The Burden of Perfection
Author : Candice Vietzke
Publisher :
Page : pages
File Size : 33,13 MB
Release : 2014-06-06
Category :
ISBN : 9780989333702
The Burdens of Perfection
Author : Andrew H. Miller
Publisher : Cornell University Press
Page : 279 pages
File Size : 46,56 MB
Release : 2011-08-15
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 0801461316
Book Description
Literary criticism has, in recent decades, rather fled from discussions of moral psychology, and for good reasons, too. Who would not want to flee the hectoring moralism with which it is so easily associated-portentous, pious, humorless? But in protecting us from such fates, our flight has had its costs, as we have lost the concepts needed to recognize and assess much of what distinguished nineteenth-century British literature. That literature was inescapably ethical in orientation, and to proceed as if it were not ignores a large part of what these texts have to offer, and to that degree makes less reasonable the desire to study them, rather than other documents from the period, or from other periods. Such are the intuitions that drive The Burdens of Perfection, a study of moral perfectionism in nineteenth-century British culture. Reading the period's essayists (Mill, Arnold, Carlyle), poets (Browning and Tennyson), and especially its novelists (Austen, Dickens, Eliot, and James), Andrew H. Miller provides an extensive response to Stanley Cavell's contribution to ethics and philosophy of mind. In the process, Miller offers a fresh way to perceive the Victorians and the lingering traces their quests for improvement have left on readers.
The Case against Perfection
Author : Michael J Sandel
Publisher : Harvard University Press
Page : 177 pages
File Size : 42,85 MB
Release : 2009-06-30
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0674043065
Book Description
Breakthroughs in genetics present us with a promise and a predicament. The promise is that we will soon be able to treat and prevent a host of debilitating diseases. The predicament is that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to manipulate our nature—to enhance our genetic traits and those of our children. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why. What is wrong with re-engineering our nature? The Case against Perfection explores these and other moral quandaries connected with the quest to perfect ourselves and our children. Michael Sandel argues that the pursuit of perfection is flawed for reasons that go beyond safety and fairness. The drive to enhance human nature through genetic technologies is objectionable because it represents a bid for mastery and dominion that fails to appreciate the gifted character of human powers and achievements. Carrying us beyond familiar terms of political discourse, this book contends that the genetic revolution will change the way philosophers discuss ethics and will force spiritual questions back onto the political agenda. In order to grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions largely lost from view in the modern world. Since these questions verge on theology, modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them. But our new powers of biotechnology make these questions unavoidable. Addressing them is the task of this book, by one of America’s preeminent moral and political thinkers.
Novels behind Glass
Author : Andrew H. Miller
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 23,20 MB
Release : 2008-07-10
Category : Literary Criticism
ISBN : 9780521068345
Book Description
Drawing on recent work in critical theory, feminism, and social history, this book explains the relationship between the novel and the emergent commodity culture of Victorian England, using the image of the "display window". Novels Behind Glass analyzes the work of Thackeray, Eliot, Dickens, Trollope, and Gaskell, to demonstrate that the Victorian novel provides us with graphic and enduring images of the power of commodities to affect our beliefs about gender, community, and individual identity. It will be of interest to students of Victorian literature and history as well as social and cultural theory.
The Heart of Perfection
Author : Colleen Carroll Campbell
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 16,61 MB
Release : 2019-05-21
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1982106182
Book Description
Winner of the 2020 Catholic Press Association Book Award In a book hailed as “liberating” (Gary Chapman, New York Times bestselling author), an award-winning author and mother of four weaves her own stories and struggles with those of seven ex-perfectionist saints (and one heretic) who show us how to pursue a new kind of perfection: freedom in Christ. Spiritual perfectionism—an obsession with flawlessness rooted in the belief that we can earn God’s love—is dangerous because so many of us mistake it for virtue. Its toxic cycle of pride, sin, shame, blame, and despair distorts our vision, dulls our faith, and leads us to view others through the same hypercritical lens we think God is using to view us. As a lifelong overachiever who drafted her first résumé in sixth grade and spell-checked her high school boyfriend’s love letters, Colleen Carroll Campbell knows something about the perfectionist trap. But it was only after she became a mother that she started to see how insidiously perfectionism had infected her spiritual life, how lethal it could be to her happiness and her family, and how disproportionately it afflicts the people working hardest to serve God. In the ruins of her own mistakes, Colleen dug into Scripture and the lives of the canonized saints for answers. She discovered to her surprise that many holy men and women were, in fact, recovering perfectionists. And their grace-fueled victory oer this malady—not perfectionist striving—was the key to their heroic virtue and contagious joy. In The Heart of Perfection, Colleen weaves the stories and wisdom of seven ex-perfectionist saints (and one heretic) with Scripture and beautifully crafted tales of her own trial-and-error experiments in applying that wisdom to her life. Gorgeously written and deeply insightful, Colleen Carroll Campbell’s The Heart of Perfection is a “must-read” (Jeannie Gaffigan, executive producer of The Jim Gaffigan Show) that “gives us permission to…walk in the freedom of God’s unconditional love” (Jennifer Fulwiler, author of One Beautiful Dream). For a free Heart of Perfection reading guide for book clubs, visit Colleen-Campbell.com.
Nobody's Perfect
Author : Anthony Lane
Publisher : Vintage
Page : 786 pages
File Size : 37,58 MB
Release : 2003-09-09
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 0375714340
Book Description
Anthony Lane on Con Air— “Advance word on Con Air said that it was all about an airplane with an unusually dangerous and potentially lethal load. Big deal. You should try the lunches they serve out of Newark. Compared with the chicken napalm I ate on my last flight, the men in Con Air are about as dangerous as balloons.” Anthony Lane on The Bridges of Madison County— “I got my copy at the airport, behind a guy who was buying Playboy’s Book of Lingerie, and I think he had the better deal. He certainly looked happy with his purchase, whereas I had to ask for a paper bag.” Anthony Lane on Martha Stewart— “Super-skilled, free of fear, the last word in human efficiency, Martha Stewart is the woman who convinced a million Americans that they have the time, the means, the right, and—damn it—the duty to pipe a little squirt of soft cheese into the middle of a snow pea, and to continue piping until there are ‘fifty to sixty’ stuffed peas raring to go.” For ten years, Anthony Lane has delighted New Yorker readers with his film reviews, book reviews, and profiles that range from Buster Keaton to Vladimir Nabokov to Ernest Shackleton. Nobody’s Perfect is an unforgettable collection of Lane’s trademark wit, satire, and insight that will satisfy both the long addicted and the not so familiar.
My Body
Author : Emily Ratajkowski
Publisher : Metropolitan Books
Page : 149 pages
File Size : 49,57 MB
Release : 2021-11-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 1250817870
Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "My Body offers a lucid examination of the mirrors in which its author has seen herself, and her indoctrination into the cult of beauty as defined by powerful men. In its more transcendent passages . . . the author steps beyond the reach of any 'Pygmalion' and becomes a more dangerous kind of beautiful. She becomes a kind of god in her own right: an artist." —Melissa Febos, The New York Times Book Review A "MOST ANTICIPATED" AND "BEST OF FALL 2021" BOOK FOR * VOGUE * TIME * ESQUIRE * PEOPLE * USA TODAY * CHICAGO TRIBUNE * LOS ANGELES TIMES * SHONDALAND * ALMA * THRILLEST * NYLON * FORTUNE A deeply honest investigation of what it means to be a woman and a commodity from Emily Ratajkowski, the archetypal, multi-hyphenate celebrity of our time Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age twenty-one, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture’s commodification of women is the subject of this book. My Body is a profoundly personal exploration of feminism, sexuality, and power, of men's treatment of women and women's rationalizations for accepting that treatment. These essays chronicle moments from Ratajkowski’s life while investigating the culture’s fetishization of girls and female beauty, its obsession with and contempt for women’s sexuality, the perverse dynamics of the fashion and film industries, and the gray area between consent and abuse. Nuanced, fierce, and incisive, My Body marks the debut of a writer brimming with courage and intelligence.
Perfectionism
Author : June Hunt
Publisher : Rose Publishing
Page : 96 pages
File Size : 49,30 MB
Release : 2014-06-16
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1596369221
Book Description
Compassionate in its approach, rich with Scripture, and easy-to-understand, this 96-page book is a must-have guide on overcoming (and helping others overcome) perfectionism. Perfectionism includes practical steps and Christian advice on how to break free from the unrealistic expectations and self-defeating thoughts that keep perfectionists stuck in a prison of performance. Freedom from perfectionism begins at the point of truth - God's truth. In this quick-reference minibook, June Hunt unpacks key Bible verses to deepen your understanding of what it means to be made "perfect" in Christ. Experience the freedom that comes from replacing your fear of failure with the unshakable truth of God's unconditional love. Designed for individual use or for friends, pastors, Christian counselors, and church leaders to give to those struggling with perfectionism. Features: Get key definitions, such as the difference between perfectionism disorder and a pursuit of excellence Find out the signs and common characteristics of a perfectionist Discover practical solutions rooted in the Word of God on how to find freedom from perfectionism Dive into relevant stories that shed light on God's perspective of perfectionism, including the story of Mary and Martha. Rose Publishing ProductCode: 282X June Hunt Hope For The Heart Series
Too Heavy a Yoke
Author : Chanequa Walker-Barnes
Publisher : Wipf and Stock Publishers
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 40,96 MB
Release : 2014-06-19
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1630871923
Book Description
Black women are strong. At least that's what everyone says and how they are constantly depicted. But what, exactly, does this strength entail? And what price do Black women pay for it? In this book, the author, a psychologist and pastoral theologian, examines the burdensome yoke that the ideology of the Strong Black Woman places upon African American women. She demonstrates how the three core features of the ideology--emotional strength, caregiving, and independence--constrain the lives of African American women and predispose them to physical and emotional health problems, including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and anxiety. She traces the historical, social, and theological influences that resulted in the evolution and maintenance of the Strong Black Woman, including the Christian church, R & B and hip-hop artists, and popular television and film. Drawing upon womanist pastoral theology and twelve-step philosophy, she calls upon pastoral caregivers to aid in the healing of African American women's identities and crafts a twelve-step program for Strong Black Women in recovery.
Never Good Enough
Author : Monica Ramirez Basco
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 292 pages
File Size : 41,32 MB
Release : 2000-03-02
Category : Psychology
ISBN : 068486293X
Book Description
This practical guide to overcoming the dangers of being a perfectionist--from debilitating feelings of self-doubt to difficulties with other people--shows readers how their perfectionist tendencies can actually help them succeed.
