Are the Rich Necessary? Great Economic Arguments and How They Reflect Our Personal Values, by Hunter Lewis

Are the rich necessary? Are the rich compatible with democracy? Should we accept so much inequality in our society? Does the profit system glorify greed?

Lewis addresses these and other provocative questions in a clear, objective and easy-to-follow journey through the great economic arguments of our day. In an always lively point-counterpoint style, he challenges conventional positions on both sides of each issue. Stepping aside from the current economic battle zone, Lewis next lays out the different value systems that guide all our economic choices. By understanding the values embedded in the arguments, we can make better sense of them. Finally, Lewis envisions a completely new approach to the economy that massively expands the charitable or nonprofit sector. These important new ideas could radically change how we think about economic issues, help us transcend the old, sterile quarrels about more or less government control of the economy, and above all bring more hope and help to those who need it. You may pick up this book to understand economics better or to answer some vital questions that affect the way you vote, your job, and your economic future. Either way, you will have to rethink some of your most cherished beliefs. Publication date: September 2007

“I salute Hunter Lewis for his original and stimulating book which concerns itself with subjects of the greatest possible importance and relevance in today’s unbalanced world. His ideas for helping the problems we face are radical, thought provoking and should be considered by as many people as possible.” — Lord Rothschild (Jacob)

“Hunter Lewis's new book sets out complex issues with clarity, succinctness, and dispassion, and in doing so prompts the reader to question his or her assumptions about the economy and social good. Taking a stance at the end, he then offers a creative approach that could make economies work more equitably and effectively for all.” — Kathryn Fuller, Chair of the Board, Ford Foundation

“Hunter Lewis writes persuasive clear prose on subjects of growing current concern. The final chapter, ‘Expanding The Non-profit Sector’ promises to stimulate even more fresh thinking about how to provide the necessary capital for the sector to achieve its mission. Lewis presents an intriguing and compelling case for “Philanthropism” as an answer to the most contentious values clash of the age.This is a must read for anyone intrigued with the promise of the latest surge in philanthropy and curiosity about the post-Gates importance of foundations.” — William W. Dietel, Former President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Chairman, F.B. Heron Foundation, President, Pierson/Lovelace Foundation

Bohemia: Where Art, Angst, Love, and Strong Coffee Meet,
by Herbert Gold

As Herbert Gold says: “…Bohemia is at least a busy café of watchers and waiters, doers and don’ters, thinkers and the heedless, men and women possessed of the need to seize the day or plan the future or regret the past, all stubbornly devoted to demonstrating that life really is what good sense tells us it is not.”

Call it the Beat Generation. Call it hippiedom. Call it an alternative life-style to Yuppieville. Whatever its label, Bohemia is still here, never lost, a secret someplace of free spirits, the nation with no capital, no main office, no citizenship board. Publication date: October 2007.

“I love this book! It is a fascinating and hilarious magical mystery tour of that unmapped land called Bohemia.” — Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides

“Postwar Paris, the San Francisco of Beats and Hippies, these are but a few of the island stops on Herbert Gold’s journey…” — Thomas Sanchez, author of Mile Zero and Rabbit Boss

“For Herbert Gold curiosity has been a lifelong unrestrained appetite. He has gone to and fro in the hep, beat, hip world—looking, listening, tasting, translating a bewildering mess of would-be outsiders’ wacky dreams and pretenses into comely, shrewd, wonderfully funny stories. He has everybody’s number, especially his own; this is cultural autobiography at its personal best.” — Geoffrey Wolff, author of The Duke of Deception

Moral Foundations: An Introduction to Ethics, by Alexander Skutch

Alexander Skutch’s Moral Foundations, offered by Axios Press in English for the first time, embodies Skutch’s lifelong inquiry into the structure of moral relations and the sources of morality. Skutch – world famous naturalist, ornithologist, philosopher and author of over 30 books – believed that in order to build a satisfying moral edifice we need to establish an ample and firm foundation. Moral Foundations brilliantly lays out for the reader the myriad ways in which we are products of “harmonization,” a process that unites the crude elements of the world in harmonious patterns. Not only does life depend on the harmonious integration of body and mind, it demands a high degree of concord with the environment in all its aspects. The culmination of Skutch’s life’s work, Moral Foundations is a tour de force of analysis, research and critical thinking and an important contribution to the study of ethics and philosophy. Publication date: September 2007

Ethics Since 1900, by Mary Warnock

For this edition of her well-established book Mary warnock has made a number of additions, in particular a discussion of Rawl's A Theory of Justice. These bring up to date a well-informed and discriminating account of the main ethical problems discussed in England, the United States, and France, including analyzations of Moore, Prichard, Ayer, Stevenson, Hare, and Sartre. Publication date: October 2007.

“In this lively and fascinating book Ms. Warnock tells with an admirable clarity the stroy of the development of English moral philosophy in the twentieth century . . . most attractively written, spontaneous, forthright and unfuzzy.” — Times Literary Supplement (London)



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A Question of Values: Six Ways We Make the Personal Choices that Shape Our Lives, by Hunter Lewis

What personal values are. How we decide about them. What the alternatives are. Seventy-eight value systems featured. Used in classrooms at Harvard and around the world. Praised by educators from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, the Institute for Advanced Study, the University of Virginia, Berea College and elsewhere.

"Hunter Lewis . . . has made sense of the conflicting systems of values in this country in these times." -- William McPherson, former editor of the Washinton Post Book World, Pulitzer Prize winning critic, author of To the Sargasso Sea and Testing the Current.

“An important book.” —HENRY ROSOVSKY, former dean of arts and sciences and currently Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University

“Enormously worthwhile....provides a unique way of organizing our thinking about values.” —Adele Simmons, president, MacArthur Foundation

“Gives readers a framework with which to clarify their own beliefs and to understand the beliefs of others...helps to make sense of...the diversity of values in our society.” —Patricia H. Werhane, Ollson Center for Applied Ethics, The Darden School, University of Virginia

The Beguiling Serpent: A Re-evaluation of Emotions and Values, by Hunter Lewis 

The Beguiling Serpent looks at emotions, and emotional values in particular. On one level a sequel to A Question of Values, it is also an excellent introduction to emotions and values, and ideal course material.

“Takes us on a provocative and intriguing journey into the imperfectly understood world of human emotions. More philosophy than science, Hunter Lewis’s highly original yet simple framework for observing, understanding, and managing emotions invites reading at one sitting, but reflection long after.” —Kathryn S. Fuller, president, World Wildlife Fund

Alexander Skutch: Selected Writings of an American Naturalist, Introduction by Frank Graham, Jr.

In addition to being one of the most prolific nature writers of our time and the world's greatest expert on Central American birds, Alexander Skutch was an inspiring moral philosopher and original thinker in the tradition on Henry David Thoreau and John Muir. Alexander Skutch: Selected Writings of an American Naturalist include selections from Skutch's writings spanning his 70 years of contributions to ornithology, travel, nature, and philosophy.

Nonsense: Red Herrings, Straw Men and Sacred Cows: How We Abuse Logic in Our Everyday Language, by Robert Gula 

Nonsense is the best compilation and study of verbal logical fallacies available anywhere. It is a handbook of the myriad ways we go about being illogical -- how we deceive others and ourselves, how we think and argue in ways that are disorderly, disorganized, or irrelevant. Nonsense is also a short course in nonmathematical logical thinking, especially important for students of philosophy and economics. A book of remarkable scholarship, Nonsense is unexpectedly relaxed, informal, and accessible.

Alternative Values: For and Against Wealth, Power, Fame, Praise, Glory and Physical Pleasure, Edited with an Introduction by Hunter Lewis

Is desire itself desirable? Should we let our desires run unchecked, especially the passionate desires for wealth, fame, praise, power and physical pleasure? Or should we try to eliminate them? Set up as a lively debate between the best thinkers of today and yesterday, Alternative Values offers strong arguments -- some logical, some empirical, some emotional, some deeply and inexpressibly intuitive -- on each side of this debate. An excellent guide for the young (and not so young) who must sort out these issues for themselves, and a wonderful resource for business leaders and public speakers.




The Words of Jesus

The canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, provide not only Jesus' words but also his actions, the context withing which the words are spoken. By presenting Jesus' words without those intervening stories, we can experience Jesus' teachings in a way that is fresh and immediate. When we are confronted directly with a saying in The Words of Jesus, we cannot glide over it as we follow the story; rather, we have the singular opportunity to linger over his words and reflect on their meanings. A valuable teaching tool and research resource in the classroom, The Words of Jesus is a new way to study the foundations of Christianity and is ideal for those who seek an introduction to Jesus' ethical teachings.