Intelligence: All That Matters


Book Description

There is a strange disconnect between the scientific consensus and the public mind on intelligence testing. Just mention IQ testing in polite company, and you'll sternly be informed that IQ tests don't measure anything "real", and only reflect how good you are at doing IQ tests; that they ignore important traits like "emotional intelligence" and "multiple intelligences"; and that those who are interested in IQ testing must be elitists, or maybe something more sinister. Yet the scientific evidence is clear: IQ tests are extraordinarily useful. IQ scores are related to a huge variety of important life outcomes like educational success, income, and even life expectancy, and biological studies have shown they are genetically influenced and linked to measures of the brain. Studies of intelligence and IQ are regularly published in the world's top scientific journals. This book will offer an entertaining introduction to the state of the art in intelligence and IQ, and will show how we have arrived at what we know from a century's research. It will engage head-on with many of the criticisms of IQ testing by describing the latest high-quality scientific research, but will not be a simple point-by-point rebuttal: it will make a positive case for IQ research, focusing on the potential benefits for society that a better understanding of intelligence can bring.




All That Matters


Book Description

Life is going damned well for Blair Spencer. She's a very successful real estate agent, happily married to a man who encourages her to live the independent life she loves--and they're actively working to have a baby. The wrench in the works is that Blair favors adoption, while her husband David desperately wants to have a biological child. The fates are against them, and they finally seek the help of a group of reproductive specialists. One of the doctors, a surgeon named Kylie Mackenzie, eventually becomes a good friend to Blair. And she needs all of the friends she can get when things start to go horribly wrong at home. As her marriage teeters on the brink of collapse, she relies more and more on Kylie's friendship. Kylie's happily gay; Blair's happily straight. But the way they structure their relationship leads friends and family to privately question whether the pair is setting themselves up for heartache. They eventually come to a crossroads, which could either destroy their friendship or turn it into what each of them has been seeking. The question is whether each woman can change her view of herself and her needs. The answer is all that matters.




Political Philosophy: All That Matters


Book Description

What is political philosophy? A philosophical study of political ideas such as authority, freedom, justice and democracy? An inquiry into the best form of government? An attempt to rationally justify forms of authority? Johanna Oksana asks exactly these questions as she opens this brilliant new guide to political philosophy. Rather than attempting to provide the reader with a definite answer, the book invites readers to recognize many of the issues encountered in everyday life as political, the outcome of human practices that incorporate power relations, social norms and obligations. It suggests that political philosophy should be understood as an open-ended, critical project that to some extent concerns everyone. The book employs an original structure which will be a huge help to both students and general readers seeking to understand the topic. Each chapter, which moves chronologically from antiquity to the twentieth century, focuses on selected classic texts in political philosophy, which are briefly introduced and analysed. The texts then function as a springboard for a discussion of central contemporary issues in political philosophy.




All That Matters


Book Description

Set in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1930s and 1940s, Choy continues the story of the Chen family household, this time narrated by First Son, Kiam-Kim. We first meet Kiam-Kim at the age of eight, staring at the yellowed photograph of his mother, who died in China when he was just a baby. Kiam-Kim, Poh-Poh (his larger-than-life grandmother) and Mr. Chen, his demure and honest father, journey to a new life in Vancouver's Old Chinatown. Following the dream of finding gold and then one day returning to China -- wealthy -- they, like many Chinese families around them, find themselves in a country on the brink of the Second World War, struggling to survive in a foreign land and keep alive the traditions of an older world. Finely crafted, and rich in historical detail, All That Matters depicts 1930s Vancouver in the haunting hues of memory, and sees in the Chen family a fragile miniature of a larger world. Dwelling on Kiam-Kim's sense of responsibility to his community, Choy unfolds the Chen family's secrets in thoughtful and luminous prose, leading the reader to a breathtaking conclusion that far transcends the limits of its time and place, and gestures towards all humanity.




International Relations: All That Matters


Book Description

Everybody these days needs to know about international relations, because their workings shape all our lives. This book, explaining the particular significance of the international level of world politics, offers a comprehensive, accessible, and challenging overview of what is at stake, and what you need to know. World politics can be understood, simply, as Who Gets What, Where and How? (globally) to borrow a title from a famous old book by Harold Lasswell. International relations are a critical level in that business of determining who gets what across the world. Decisive things take place at the international level, and they directly or indirectly affect all our lives: war, trade, and the provision (or not) of human rights for example. This is why the practice of international relations matter. The reason academic International Relations matter is because it is the subject that asks the most fundamental questions about the politics of who gets what and how, and in the biggest political arena of all.




The Music's All that Matters


Book Description

Paul Stump reassesses Progressive Rock in terms of transcendentalism, 1960s pop culture and the rise of the rock musician as Romantic Artist. He takes a wide ranging view of the social and cultural background and has carried out extensive interviews.




Love: All That Matters


Book Description

Love: All That Matters argues that the modern view on love has been distorted by a fixation on romantic love that has depleted our resources for living through the darker sides of love, whereas in fact there are several ways in which humans give and experience love over the course of their lives and it is best to have access to them all. Vernon draws on science, psychology, philosophy and literature, to examine eight different kinds of love, each associated with a phase of human development. From infant narcissism and the emergence of eros, through puberty and the rush of romantic love, to the end of life and the love of God, this is a beguiling tour of the most mysterious force of all. This accessible and readable book will appeal to both students and general readers, giving a fascinating introduction to the psychology and philosophy of love - and what matters most about it.




Bioethics: All That Matters


Book Description

In this book: Donna Dickenson - Winner of the International Spinoza Lens Award Should we do what ever science lets us do?Bioethics: All That Matters, new developments in biotechnology like genetics, stem cell research and artificial reproduction arouse both our greatest hopes and our greatest fears. Many people invest the new biotechnology with all the aspirations and faith once accorded to religious salvation. But does everyone benefit equally from scientific progress? Commercialised modern biomedicine runs the risk of exploiting vulnerable groups, from Indian 'surrogate' mothers to professional guinea pigs in drug research. Professor Dickenson argues that although we've entered new scientific territory, there's no need to jettison our existing moral sense. By discussing a range of real-life cases, she equips readers to make up their own minds on these important and controversial questions. Good science and good ethics needn't be contradictory. This accessible and concise book will appeal to both students and general readers, giving a fascinating introduction to a wide range of perspectives on Bioethics. All That Matters books: All books in the All That Matters series are written by world experts in their subject field. These experts work to distil a topic and get right to its heart, making the book accessible for both students and general readers. Each compelling book contains new and interesting perspectives and tells stories that matter. The Author: All That Matters - Interesting introductions to important issues Books on the following subjects are available from the All That Matters series: Muhammad, God, Water, Political Philosophy, Sustainability, Philosophy, Intelligence, Love, Russian Revolution, War, and Creativity.To find out more visit: www.allthatmattersbooks.com




All That Matters


Book Description

For a few seconds no one moved, stunned by what was happening. Released, as one, from their paralysis, they rushed to rescue Victor before Vladimir beat him to death. Luke Peterson was six feet five inches tall and weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. Because of the time he spent in the gym, he had a body built of solid muscle. Calling off the dog, he grabbed Vladimir by the scruff of his neck and threw him against the wall. The handcuffs he always carried were soon holding the drunken man's hands behind his back. Watching all this from the doorway of their room, Natalia began screaming, "That girl is a filthy slut. She has always wanted my husband." She grabbed Anika's hair and tried to pull her to the floor. Bobby stepped in, pinning the out-of-control woman's arms behind her back. "Call the police," a struggling Natalia demanded. A shocked look quickly replaced her outrage when Luke pulled out his badge. He stuck it in her face. "I AM the police. Now STEP BACK and SHUT UP."




Animal Rights


Book Description

A fresh view of animals and what we owe them. Do animals have moral standing? Do they count, morally speaking? In Animal Rights, Mark Rowlands argues that they do and explores the implications of this idea. He identifies three different waves in animal rights writing. The first wave was defined by a traditional dispute between utilitarianism (represented by Peter Singer) and rights-based approaches (represented by Tom Regan) to ethics. The second wave was defined by an expansion in a conception of ethics, which saw utilitarian and rights-based approaches supplemented by other ethical traditions, including contractualism, virtue ethics, and care ethics. The third wave was defined by an expansion in our conception of animals, driven by exciting new developments in the field of comparative psychology. Each of these waves had ramifications for how we understand the moral status of animals, but, this book argues, and reinforces, the core idea that animals deserve moral respect. In earlier waves, discussions of animal ethics had been focused on the issue of animal suffering. But the third wave is defined by the idea that animals are far more than merely sufferers or enjoyers of experiences but are instead authors of their own lives: creatures capable of choosing how to live, shaped by a conception of their life and how they would like it to go. Rowlands writes that, no matter what moral theory you choose, the most plausible version of that theory entails that animals have moral standing and that our obligations to them are far more substantial than many of us care to acknowledge.