Enlightened Self-Interest

Enlightened Self-Interest PDF Author: Thomas J. Bussen
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1647123909
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
"In the face of entrenched politics in a polarized society, ineffective economic policy in an unequal society, and environmental inaction in a world that is burning, many well-intentioned people are left feeling helpless, dispirited, and most importantly, apathetic, before an immovable force. They recognize the need for structural, legislative, and policy changes to address the legacy of slavery and deeply rooted inequality in the United States in particular, but they still may yearn to do something as individuals to promote change in these areas. What changes can individuals make in their personal lives that could foster a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society? Recovering lawyer and Miami University business professor Dr. Thomas J. Bussen, Washington University's Dr. Timothy Bono, and longtime academic-practitioner Dr. Henry Biggs address this question in a meticulously researched and empirically rooted book. Together they present a sharp critique of America's ruthlessly self-interested culture while offering a holistic understanding of "enlightened self-interest" as an actionable alternative.They first identify how our own taken-for-granted assumptions and societally sanctioned competitions for money, power, and fame promote selfishness, personal alienation, and widespread inequality. Crucially, however, they then propose a simple, specific, and immediately actionable alternative: acting with enlightened self-interest, in which self- and other- interests merge fluently.With the knowledge that individual actions are not enough, they ask the reader this question: For all that we cannot do, is it not time to ask what each of us can do? Is it not time to do the hard work, to move the proverbial needle - even if it does little more than quiver? Is it not time to know, with a certainty that is rare in this complex and confusing world, that to change any life is to change a universe? With humility, with patience and empathy for self and others, and with a clear lens through which to view each of our worlds, let us shake the foundations on which we stand"--

Enlightened Self-Interest

Enlightened Self-Interest PDF Author: Thomas J. Bussen
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1647123909
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Get Book Here

Book Description
"In the face of entrenched politics in a polarized society, ineffective economic policy in an unequal society, and environmental inaction in a world that is burning, many well-intentioned people are left feeling helpless, dispirited, and most importantly, apathetic, before an immovable force. They recognize the need for structural, legislative, and policy changes to address the legacy of slavery and deeply rooted inequality in the United States in particular, but they still may yearn to do something as individuals to promote change in these areas. What changes can individuals make in their personal lives that could foster a more civil, equitable, and sustainable society? Recovering lawyer and Miami University business professor Dr. Thomas J. Bussen, Washington University's Dr. Timothy Bono, and longtime academic-practitioner Dr. Henry Biggs address this question in a meticulously researched and empirically rooted book. Together they present a sharp critique of America's ruthlessly self-interested culture while offering a holistic understanding of "enlightened self-interest" as an actionable alternative.They first identify how our own taken-for-granted assumptions and societally sanctioned competitions for money, power, and fame promote selfishness, personal alienation, and widespread inequality. Crucially, however, they then propose a simple, specific, and immediately actionable alternative: acting with enlightened self-interest, in which self- and other- interests merge fluently.With the knowledge that individual actions are not enough, they ask the reader this question: For all that we cannot do, is it not time to ask what each of us can do? Is it not time to do the hard work, to move the proverbial needle - even if it does little more than quiver? Is it not time to know, with a certainty that is rare in this complex and confusing world, that to change any life is to change a universe? With humility, with patience and empathy for self and others, and with a clear lens through which to view each of our worlds, let us shake the foundations on which we stand"--

Enlightened Individualism

Enlightened Individualism PDF Author: Kyle Garton-Gundling
Publisher: Literature, Religion, & Postse
ISBN: 9780814213926
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Reconciles seemingly conflicting views of Asian transcendence and American freedom to argue that post-WWII American writers envision a more enlightened individualism.

Justifiable Individualism

Justifiable Individualism PDF Author: Frank Wilson Blackmar
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Individualism
Languages : en
Pages : 156

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Book Description


Enlightenment Through Entitlement

Enlightenment Through Entitlement PDF Author: Nicolas Vale
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1503592472
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This book is an evolving theory about the human condition and the true nature of reality. The theory states the laws of human energy dynamics that include the premise that all human stress, depression, anxiety, and conflict come from the perceived unfair or unequal exchange of human energy. The theory put forth utilizes the laws of physics from the physical realm and translates these same laws into human beings and human behavior. The theory clearly states that all human behavior is one hundred percent defensive, protective, selfish, self-centered, self-serving and is done so the human in question can avoid, relieve, reduce, or eliminate all forms of conceivable human suffering (self-destructive and suicidal behavior explained). The more we feel threatened and consequently suffer, the more selfish we become. There are no such things as selflessness, sacrifice, martyrs, or heroes because everything a person does or thinks about himself or herself has the subconscious and/or conscious goal of relieving suffering. Everything is a defense against suffering. The theory/philosophy presented in this book explains why people act the way they do, and why life is a brutal, fierce competition for scarce, finite, ultimately impersonal, ultimately impartial, and ultimately neutral human energy. All inevitable stress and conflict come from the entitlement people feel for this powerful invisible force (human energy), and there just isnt enough to go around to satisfy each persons unique entitlement issues. Even though this book talks about an inherent order to human beings with regards to energy, it is a very spiritual book meant to help people make sense of their lives and take the mystery out of why things happen they way they do. Once the reader becomes enlightened (aware) to the true nature of reality, only then can the human species evolve to a place where we can talk about what we are experiencing here on earth accurately. The final frontier for mankind is not outer space as many people will have you think. The final frontier is the acceptance of a hierarchical structure to mankind, selfishness, self-interest and entitlement as a truth and a natural, normal part of human existence. The theories presented in this book will change the way you view reality forever. It is to your advantage to understand reality. This book is where science, psychology, sociology, philosophy, and spirituality overlap.

Gospel of the Open Road

Gospel of the Open Road PDF Author: Robert C. Gordon
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 0595158005
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 494

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Book Description
Gospel of the Open Road reclaims Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau as America’s spiritual birthright. It rescues them from literary history, and reveals them in their true light: as democracy’s prophets of the soul. Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau were religious seers who developed a new form of spirituality, and Gospel of the Open Road explains, in scholarly yet passionate fashion, the deep wisdom that is their enduring legacy. It presents them as a viable spiritual path for those who do not belong, and do not want to belong, to any organized religion.But this book does more. It draws fascinating parallels between the new spirituality taught by Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau and ancient spiritual wisdom as found in shamanism, Goddess worship, Tantra, Taoism, Confucianism, Vajrayana and Zen Buddhism, and Hinduism. This book is an evocative synthesis of humanity’s most venerable spiritual wisdom and the most modern of philosophical, social, psychological, political, scientific, and Humanistic concepts. It traces the New Age spiritual revolution to its source in Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau, and explains how to apply their spiritual teachings to our everyday life here on Earth.

Justifiable Individualism

Justifiable Individualism PDF Author: Frank Wilson Blackmar
Publisher: Palala Press
ISBN: 9781359018854
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Individualism

Individualism PDF Author: George H. Smith
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1939709644
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 247

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Book Description
Individualism is one of the most criticized and least understood ideas in social and political thought. Is Individualism the ability ot act independently amidst a web of social forces? A vital element of personal liberty and a shield against conformity? Does it lead to or away from unifying individuals with communities? Individualism: A Reader provides a wealth of illuminating essays from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. In 26 selections from 25 writers, individualism is explained and defended, often from unusual perspectives. This anthology includes not only selections from well-known writers, but also many lesser-known pieces-reprinted here for the first time-by philosophers, social theorists, and economists who have been overlooked in standard accounts of individualism. Both richly historical and sharply contemporary, Individualism: A Reader provides a multitude of perspectives and insights on personal liberty and the history of freedom.

The Myth of American Individualism

The Myth of American Individualism PDF Author: Barry Alan Shain
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691224994
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 415

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Book Description
Sharpening the debate over the values that formed America's founding political philosophy, Barry Alan Shain challenges us to reconsider what early Americans meant when they used such basic political concepts as the public good, liberty, and slavery. We have too readily assumed, he argues, that eighteenth-century Americans understood these and other terms in an individualistic manner. However, by exploring how these core elements of their political thought were employed in Revolutionary-era sermons, public documents, newspaper editorials, and political pamphlets, Shain reveals a very different understanding--one based on a reformed Protestant communalism. In this context, individual liberty was the freedom to order one's life in accord with the demanding ethical standards found in Scripture and confirmed by reason. This was in keeping with Americans' widespread acceptance of original sin and the related assumption that a well-lived life was only possible in a tightly knit, intrusive community made up of families, congregations, and local government bodies. Shain concludes that Revolutionary-era Americans defended a Protestant communal vision of human flourishing that stands in stark opposition to contemporary liberal individualism. This overlooked component of the American political inheritance, he further suggests, demands examination because it alters the historical ground upon which contemporary political alternatives often seek legitimation, and it facilitates our understanding of much of American history and of the foundational language still used in authoritative political documents.

Individualism

Individualism PDF Author: Warner Fite
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Individualism
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description


The Politics of Authenticity

The Politics of Authenticity PDF Author: Marshall Berman
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1789605113
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
In this acclaimed exploration of the search for "authentic" individual identity, Marshall Berman explores the historical experiences and needs out of which this new radicalism arose. Focussing on eighteenth-century Paris, a time and place in which a distinctively modern form of society was just coming into its own, Berman shows how the ideal of authenticity-of a self that could organize the individual's energy and direct it toward his own happiness-articulated eighteenth-century man's deepest responses to this brave new world, and his most ardent hope for a new life in it. Exploring in particular the ideas of Montesquieu and Rousseau, Berman shows how the ideal of authenticity was radically opposed to the bourgeois, capitalistic idea of "self-interest."