Lyons Regional Library

"[Elie Wiesel] taught at Boston University for nearly four decades, and with this book, Ariel Burger--devoted protégé, apprentice, and friend--takes us into the sacred space of Wiesel's classroom. There, Wiesel challenged his students to explore moral complexity and to resist the dangerous lure of absolutes. In bringing together never-before-recounted moments between Wiesel and his students, Witness serves as a moral education in and of itself--a...

"...Grayling has distilled the work of hundreds of authors and more than one thousand texts using the same techniques...that produced the holy books of the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religions. Their wit and advice, human stories, tragedies and yearnings, love and consolations are shaped into fourteen constituent parts that recall the Bible in structure: Genesis, Wisdom, Parables, Concord, Lamentations, Consolations, Sages, Songs, Histories, Proverbs,...

[News stories of history from 3.5 million BC to 1988].

The Authorized Albert Einstein Archives Edition: A fascinating collection of Einstein's observations about life, religion, nationalism, and a host of personal topics that engaged the genius's intellect. In the aftermath of the First World War, Albert Einstein writes about his hopes for the League of Nations, his feelings as a German citizen about the growing anti-Semitism and nationalism of his country, and his myriad opinions about the current affairs...

How can we explain man's lust for cruelty? In a world in which violence seems to be increasing, social philosopher Erich Fromm has treated this haunting question with depth and scope in the most original and far-reaching work of his brilliant career. Fromm goes beyond the controversy between instinctivists like Lorenz, who argue that man's destructiveness has been inherited from his animal ancestors, and behaviorists like Skinner, who maintain that...

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker urges us to step back from the headlines and prophecies of doom and instead follow the data. In seventy-five graphs, he posits that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction...

In the End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs -- even when these beliefs inspire the worst of human atrocities. Harris argues that in the presence of weapons of mass destruction we cannot expect to survive our religious differences indefinitely. Most controversially, he...

Is there a non-religious method for discovering the elements of an objective morality? Yes, Smith argues--the worldview of humanism. Humanists apply reason, logic, and, evidence to all subjects. Smith's humanist approach to morality relies on discussion and debate among diverse participants as the best means to attain a moral code stripped of the biases of each individual, group, and society. The result is a hopeful portrait of how to build on the...