In Shame, Fame, and the Technological Mentality, Dustin Peone interrogates the modern human condition. Peone argues that shame and fear are constitutive of social order, but that these affects have been undermined by contemporary ideology. This subversion has created a novel breed of shameless and fearless human beings, with myriad social consequences. Peone next demonstrates an associated change in the role of fame in society: where once the desire for fame was tied to immortality through civic virtue, this connection has eroded, and fame is no longer connected to excellence. Finally, Peone analyzes the hegemonic role of technological thinking and its responsibility in accelerating these processes, cautioning against the deification of technology. In response to the technological mentality for navigating the modern world, Peone argues instead for an ethics of prudence and a doctrine of humor.

In this book, Dustin Peone analyzes the role of shame and fame in the contemporary world, showing that these ideas have lost their roots in social virtue. He then criticizes the technological mentality, demonstrating its responsibility for changing the human condition.

Contemporary philosophy has adopted an increasingly tragic point of view. Tragedy, though, is only a partial truth of the human condition. Comedy is another partial truth. The nature of human existence is neither wholly the one nor the other, but tragi-comic. Philosophy must be attuned to both despair and laughter if it is to understand its own world. In Making Philosophy Laugh, the philosopher Dustin Peone makes an apology for the comic side of existence and its use in philosophy. He demonstrates the social and moral uses of humor and analyzes its significance for speculative thinking. Folly and irony are shown to be vital facets of dialectical philosophy. The reader is introduced to the comical side of Socrates and Homer, Descartes and Vico, Kant and Hegel, and many others. Finally, a doctrine of the tragi-comic sense of life is presented that does justice to all aspects of human existence and liberates the spirit from the grimness of serious thought.

What is savior-hood that truly brings liberation? Is it only the white, male Jesus figure dying on the cross to save us from hell? A missionary crossing oceans to “save the lost”? In this searing memoir, Brittanie Richardson remembers begging God to save her from sexual abuse at the tender age of three, and takes us on her journey where her initial understanding of savior-hood was stolen and she became steeped in white evangelicalism, white saviorism, and trying to change herself to please God. She eventually moved to Kenya to rescue young girls from sexual exploitation and “bring them the good news of salvation.” Instead these girls, by showing up and saving each other everyday, reintroduced her to “sister savior-hood” which defied the limitations of white savior-hood and centered the power of marginalized girls. Richardson denounces white evangelicalism, deconstructs her faith, and embraces all of herself—including her queerness. Through her story, you will also be moved to embark on your own journey of liberation and self-acceptance.

Now a New York Times bestseller and from the author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. 'It's about the terror, isn't it?' 'The terror of what?' I said. 'The terror of being found out.' For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made a joke on social media that came out badly, or made a mistake at work. Once their transgression is revealed, collective outrage circles with the force of a hurricane and the next thing they know they're being torn apart by an angry mob, jeered at, demonized, sometimes even fired from their job. A great renaissance of public shaming is sweeping our land. Justice has been democratized. The silent majority are getting a voice. But what are we doing with our voice? We are mercilessly finding people's faults. We are defining the boundaries of normality by ruining the lives of those outside it. We are using shame as a form of social control. Simultaneously powerful and hilarious in the way only Jon Ronson can be, So You've Been Publicly Shamed is a deeply honest book about modern life, full of eye-opening truths about the escalating war on human flaws - and the very scary part we all play in it.

For over half a century, Howard Gardner has studied the mind in its various shapes, forms, and operations, culminating in his best-known work, the theory of multiple intelligences. This volume compiles his most compelling essays on the conduct, contours, and complexity of the human mind. After introducing the thinkers who had the greatest influence on him, Gardner traces the multiple aspects of mind that he has illuminated: the development of cognition, notably in the arts; the breakdown of cognition under condition of brain damage; a probing examination of human cognition at its highest levels, including creativity, leadership, artistry, and “good work” (work that is excellent, engaging, and ethical) in the professions; and, most recently, our extraordinary synthesizing capacities as human beings. This fascinating book captures in one place the long and compelling arc of a major scholar’s contribution to understanding intelligence, thinking, and the development of the range of cognitive strengths. Book Features: Presents Howard Gardner’s essential essays on mind over the course of his long and distinguished career.Traces the influences on GardnerÕs own thinking, among them psychologists Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner, philosophers Susanne Langer and Nelson Goodman, neurologist Norman Geschwind, and anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss.Shows how an understanding of human cognitive capacities and processes manifests itself in several domains, such as artistry, leadership, creativity, and excellence in the professions.

This New York Times bestseller “argues that Americans are richer, more informed and ‘connected’ than ever—and unhappier, more isolated and less fulfilled” (George Will, The Washington Post). Something is wrong. We all know it. American life expectancy is declining. Birth rates are dropping. Nearly half of us think the other political party isn’t just wrong; they’re evil. We’re the richest country in history, but we’ve never been more pessimistic. What’s causing the despair? In Them, former US senator Ben Sasse argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, our crisis isn’t really about politics. It’s that we’re so lonely we can’t see straight—and it bubbles out as anger. Local communities are collapsing. Across the nation, little leagues and Rotary clubs are dwindling, and in all likelihood, we don’t know the neighbor two doors down. Work offers less security, few lifelong coworkers, shallow purpose. Stable families and enduring friendships—life’s fundamental pillars—are in statistical freefall. As a result, we rally against common enemies so we can feel part of a team. Foreign adversaries use technology to exploit these toxic divisions by sowing misinformation and mistrust, to confuse us, exhaust us, make us angry—and thereby make us weaker. Reversing our decline requires something radical: a rediscovery of real places and human-to-human relationships. Even as technology nudges us to become rootless, Sasse shows how only a recovery of rootedness can heal our lonely souls. America wants you to be happy, but more urgently, America needs you to love your neighbor and connect with your community. Fixing what’s wrong with the country depends on it. “Sasse is highly attuned to the cultural sources of our current discontents and dysfunctions. . . . an attempt to diagnose and repair what has led us to this moment of spittle-flecked rage. . . . a step toward healing a hurting nation.” —National Review “Perhaps at last we have a politician capable of writing a good book rather than having a dull one written for him.” —The Wall Street Journal “Unpretentious, thoughtful, and at times, quite funny . . . his arguments are worth reading—as are his warnings about what our country might become.” —NPR