Books published by Cricket Books, a division of Carus Publishing Co

This book combines a sweeping narrative of the Civil War with a bold new look at the war’s significance for American society. Professor Hummel sees the Civil War as America’s turning point: simultaneously the culmination and repudiation of the American revolution.Chapters tell the story of the Civil War, discussing the issues raised in readable prose, each followed by a detailed bibliographical essay, looking at the different major works on the subject with varying ideological viewpoints and conclusions.In his economic analysis of slavery, Professor Hummel takes a different view. While some writers claim that slavery was unprofitable and harmful to the Southern economy, and others maintain it was profitable and efficient for the South, Hummel uses the economic concept of ''Deadweight Loss'' to show that slavery was both highly profitable for slave owners and harmful to Southern economic development.While highly critical of Confederate policy, Hummel argues that the war was fought to prevent secession, not to end slavery, and that preservation of the Union was not necessary to end slavery arguing that the South crucially relied on the Northern states to return runaway slaves to their owners.

This is the story of two initiatives in international education, one originating in Switzerland, the other in Britain, but both now established in most countries of the world, including especially the United States and U.S. schools overseas. The International baccalaureate (IB) is a college entrance examination which can be taken in any country and is recognized by universities in any country. Adoption of the IB curriculum in a school ensures tht the school is brought up to international standards. Currently, for example, nearly 400 U.S. schools offer the IB, and the number is rapidly growing.The United World Colleges (UWC) are a chain of schools in many countires, where young people of all nations and backgrounds can live and learn together. There are now ten United World Colleges, each drawing students from all over the world. "Schools Across Frontiers" is an inspiring, sometimes amusing, highly personal and anecdotal history of the IB and the UWC by the late Alec Peterson, who played a pioneering role in forming them. This second edition has additional chapters by Ian Hill and David Sutcliffe, bringing the story of the IB and the UWC up to date.

Like no other book you have ever read, Therapy Breakthrough explains clearly and vividly just what goes on in psychotherapy, why there are so many different systems of psychotherapy which disagree with one another, where these different schools of therapy came from, why psychotherapy is continually misrepresented in popular culture, and why, despite all this, psychotherapy gets good results, is improving all the time, and is superior to drugs in helping you solve your problems.

"Explores philosophical and religious themes in popular films and television shows"--Provided by publisher.

Rather than a monolithic movement of naïve empiricists, the Vienna Circle represented a discussion forum for what were sometimes compatible, sometimes conflicting philosophical approaches to empirical evidence. The Circle’s protocol-sentence debate — here reconstructed and analyzed — provides an exceptional vantage point from which to survey the various options and choices of the participants. Author Thomas Uebel mines the diaries, letters, and notes of the group’s leading philosophers to show how their ideas emerged from real-world arguments, personal relationships, and historical settings.

On September 11th, 2001, popular perceptions of terrorism were transformed. Although many terrorist activities had occurred earlier, the 9/11 outrages were widely seen as escalating the terrorist danger to an entirely new level. Vast resources were suddenly poured into "the war on terror," sweeping legislation was rushed through Congress, a major new department of the federal government was created, and two foreign countries were invaded and occupied in the name of the struggle against terrorism. There has been no shortage of action. Yet human action is always directed by ideas, and many of the ideas inspiring the current flury of "anti-terrorist" activities are in need of scrutiny and clarification. In Philosophy 9/11, philosophical scholars specializing in terorism-related topics, several of them also officers in the United States military, closely examine some of the basic presuppositions of our response to terrorist attacks.

Martial arts and philosophy have always gone hand in hand, as well as fist in throat. Philosophical argument is closely paralleled with hand-to-hand combat. And all of today’s Asian martial arts were developed to embody and apply philosophical ideas. In his interview with Bodidharma, Graham Priest brings out aspects of Buddhist philosophy behind Shaolin Kung-Fu — how fighting monks are seeking Buddhahood, not brawls. But as Scott Farrell’s chapter reveals, Eastern martial arts have no monopoly on philosophical traditions: Western chivalry is an education in and living revival of Aristotelian ethical theories. Several chapters look at ethical problems raised by the fighting arts. How can the sweaty and brutal be exquisitely beautiful? Every chapter is easily understandable by readers new to martial arts or new to philosophy.

"SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy" is designed to introduce fans of "SpongeBob SquarePants" to some of the great thinkers and questions in philosophy. The essays can be shared by young and old alike, kindling new interest in philosophy and life's big questions. What keeps "SpongeBob" "reeling in" major audiences on a daily basis is that underneath the lighthearted and whimsical exterior are the seeds of long-standing and important philosophical discussions about identity and the self, our obligations toward others, benefits and tensions of the individual in community, principles of the marketplace and environmental ethics, and questions of just how exactly Jack Kahuna Laguna can build a fire at the bottom of the ocean. (Okay, so perhaps we don't have an answer for that last one, but maybe if you look into that fire long enough the answer will be revealed.) The book begins with a section exploration of the major characters of the series. To begin, Nicole Pramik uses the philosophies of Aristotle to demonstrate why SpongeBob, more than any other character in the series, is defined by a life of well-being and flourishing. In chapter two, Timothy Dunn provides an assessment of SpongeBob's best friend, Patrick Star, using the writings of J.S. Mill to ask if the life of simple pleasures preferable to the life of the mind, while in chapter three Natasha Liebig uses the German pessimist philosophers to reveal what it means to live the life of Squidward Q. Tentacles. Chapter four uses the competing philosophies of Ayn Rand and Karl Marx to evaluate the actions of SpongeBob's boss, Mr. Eugene Krabs, while in chapter five Denise Du Vernay explains how Sandy Cheeks offers a brand of feminism that breaks down traditional assumptions about masculine and feminine identity and repackages them into constructive and empowering messages for young people. Concluding this section of the book, Nicholas Michaud uses the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche to ask us reconsider our belief that SpongeBob and his friends are somehow heroic by giving us insight into the "will to power" held by the powerful little protozoan, Plankton. Section two of the book is dedicated to exploring the community of Bikini Bottom, starting with Shaun Young's examination of Bikini Bottom as a representation of various theories of the just state. In chapter eight, Nathan Zook looks into whether we might learn something about theories of democracy and political participation from an election between SpongeBob and Squidward for "Royal Krabby," while in chapter nine Adam Barkman uses the writings of Dante Alighieri to assess the monarchal rule of King Neptune. Chapter ten uses the legal philosophies of thinkers like Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, John Rawls, and David Hume to answer whether Mr. Krabs has the proper philosophical basis upon which to claim an individual right to possess and profit from the secret Krabby Patty formula. Chapter eleven then takes us to the pristine Jellyfish Fields where Greg Ahrenhoerster uses literary naturalism and the works of transcendentalist thinkers to examine environmental ethics and an individual's obligations to shared resources. The third and final section uses SpongeBob to explore psychological and scientific questions that float around under the sea. In chapter twelve, Katie Anderson uses the episode "Sleepy Time" to explore Cartesian principles related to the philosophical questions that attempt to distinguish between dreams and reality, and in chapter thirteen Robert Kincaid continues the examination into philosophical issues related to the mind by using SpongeBob, Squidward, and Patrick to relate the theories of Sigmund Freud. Chapter fourteen is dedicated to an introduction into the philosophy of science by Wilson Gonzalez-Espada, and Robert Vuckovich concludes the volume with an essay on SpongeBob's insatiable thirst for knowledge in the episode "The Secret Box."

In attempting to retain her "human" side, does Sharon really have free will? Is killing a Cylon murder or garbage disposal? These are some of the questions addressed in this thoughtful collection of writings on the philosophical underpinnings of "Battlestar Galactica."