"Our self-image as moral, well-behaved creatures is dogged by skepticism, relativism, hypocrisy, and nihilism, and by the fear that science has unmasked us as creatures fated by our genes to be selfish, competitive, and aggressive. Here, Simon Blackburn tackles the major moral questions surrounding birth, death, happiness, desire, and freedom, showing us how we should think about the meaning of life. This new edition reflects our changing times and...

"Henry James: A Very Short Introduction places Henry James's notoriously difficult writings in their historical and biographical context. Henry James had a major impact on the literary culture of his time and ever since. From his childhood through his mature life, James created a unique body of fiction, travel writing, reviews, and theory that represents one of the greatest achievements in America's literary history. This VSI studies various fictional...

Four o'clock in the morning, and the lights are on and still there's no way we're going to sleep, not after the film we just saw. The book we just read. Fear is one of the most primal human emotions, and one of the hardest to reason with and dispel. So why do we scare ourselves? It seems almost mad that we would frighten ourselves for fun, and yet there are thousands of books, films, games, and other forms of entertainment designed to do exactly that....

The issues of medical ethics, from moral quandaries of euthanasia and the morality of killing to political dilemmas like fair healthcare distribution, are rarely out of today's media. This area of ethics covers a wide range of issues, from mental health to reproductive medicine, as well as including management issues such as resource allocation, and has proven to hold enduring interest for the general public as well as the medical practitioner. This...

Neoliberalism: A Very Short Introduction explores the considerable variations of neoliberalism around the world, and discusses the origins, evolution, and core ideas of neoliberalism. Neoliberalism emerged as the world's dominant economic paradigm in the 1990s. The global financial crash of 2008 and the subsequent emergence of more nationalist ideologies have challenged both neoliberal assumptions and related financial systems-a development most spectacularly...

The conflict between Palestine and Israel is one of the most highly publicized and bitter struggles in history. In this accessible and stimulating Very Short Introduction, Martin Bunton clearly explains the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence-a modern territorial contest between two nations and one geographical territory. Adopting a fresh and original approach, each section covers a twenty-year span, to highlight the historical...

More than ever before, the Renaissance stands out as one of the defining moments in world history. Between 1400 and 1600, European perceptions of society, culture, politics, and even humanity itself emerged in ways that continue to affect not only Europe but the entire world. In this wide-ranging exploration of the Renaissance, Jerry Brotton shows the period as a time of unprecedented intellectual excitement, cultural experimentation, and interaction...