First up, Scott Davison’s On the Intrinsic Value of Everything. Davison’s book functions as both an introduction to fundamental questions in ethics as well as an argument for the controversial view that everything that exists is intrinsically valuable to some degree. Davison asks: if only some things are intrinsically valuable, what about other things? Where and how do we draw the cutoff point? If only living creatures are intrinsically valuable, what does this imply for how we value the environment? If everything has intrinsic value, what practical implications does this have for how we live our lives? How does this view fit with the traditional theistic idea that God is the source of goodness and truth?
An early review:
“In this lovely little book Scott Davison defends the novel thesis that everything has intrinsic value to some degree. What fascinates me is that Davison presents his case in a highly accessible manner without compromising its depth and rigor. This book is an important contribution to discussions of intrinsic value within and beyond academic philosophy.” -- Yujin Nagasawa, Reader in Philosophy of Religion, University of Birmingham, UK
Next is Christopher Lutz’s excellent commentary and guide to Alasdair MacIntyre’s seminal After Virtue. Reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue provides a commentary that is accessible to students, valuable to scholars, and useful to teachers. Students will find help to navigate the two main arguments of After Virtue, to understand its interpretation of history, and to engage its proposal for a form of ethics and politics that returns to the tradition of the virtues. Scholars will find the book useful as a general guide to MacIntyre’s ethics. Teachers will find a book that can help to direct their students’ reading and keep classroom discussions focused on the book’s central concerns.
We have been fortunate enough to have received an endorsement from Professor MacIntyre himself:
“In the thirty years since I wrote After Virtue I have become keenly aware that it is not always easy reading and that even attentive readers sometimes need help. Christopher Lutz has the gifts of a first-rate commentator and guide and his readers will be as indebted to him as I am.” -- Alasdair MacIntyre
Other notable early reviews:
"Only someone with a deep knowledge of Alasdair MacIntyre’s work could write a book like this. Christopher Lutz, who is extremely knowledgeable of MacIntyre’s corpus, has done us the great favor of contextualizing the arguments of After Virtue. [...] This is not only one of the best introductions we have of MacIntyre, it is a book that advances MacIntyre’s argument with modernity in a manner that suggests how we might go on. I highly recommend this book as a necessary companion to After Virtue." -- Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School, USA
"Reading Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue is a thorough yet succinct, clear and accessible yet scholarly introductory overview and critical engagement with one of the most important works on ethics in the last 50 years. Exhaustively researched and exceptionally well-written by a leading MacIntyre scholar, it is sure to be the standard work on the subject for many years to come. In a word, Christopher Lutz’s latest volume on MacIntyre hits the ball out of the park. You cannot want to understand MacIntyre and not read this book." -- Bruce Ballard, Professor of Philosophy, Lincoln University, USA
"Lutz’s commentary on Alasdair MacIntyre’s 1981 After Virtue illuminates both its context and its content. After Virtue was not a mere dissent within the framework of modern ethics but a rejection of the framework itself. MacIntyre both needed and deserved an interpreter with Lutz’s clarity of style and depth of understanding. Lutz ably traces the path MacIntyre took from his early Marxism to his incorporation of Aristotle. Lutz then defends MacIntyre’s critique of modern ethics as a disastrous fetishism of rules detached from community. This defense should spark a wider discussion among contemporary moralists of MacIntyre’s goal-based ethics." -- Milton Fisk, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Indiana University, USA
And, finally, Chad Meister’s Evil: A Guide for the Perplexed. Meister addresses a core issue in philosophy of religion, posed most succinctly perhaps by Epicurus: “Either God wants to abolish evil, and cannot; or he can, but does not want to. If he wants to, but cannot, he is impotent. If he can, but does not want to, he is wicked. If God can abolish evil, and God really wants to do it, why is there evil in the world?” Meister shows how the problem of evil has taken a variety of forms over the centuries and that, in fact, there are numerous “problems” of evil—problems for theists but, perhaps surprisingly, problems for non-theists as well.
Early reviews:
"…a brilliant, lucid, fair, concise guide to philosophical reflection on the nature of evil.” -- Charles Taliaferro, Professor of Philosophy, St. Olaf College, USA
" Chad Meister skillfully guides his audience through philosophical thickets with clarity, vigor, succinctness, and a trove of illuminating examples. […] In short-- a highly rewarding read!" -- David Shatz, Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Division of Humanities, Yeshiva University, USA
"… presents the most important recent developments in thinking about the problem of evil in a way that is accessible to anyone with an interest in the topic. While many books claim to do this, Meister’s book actually delivers the goods and I highly recommend it." -- Stewart Goetz, Professor of Philosophy, Ursinus College, USA
"Meister has produced the most comprehensive and accessible monograph on evil currently available. […] Written in Meister's characteristically clear style, this book will be an invaluable resource for people of all faiths and none." -- Rev. Dr. Harriet Harris, Chaplain to the University of Edinburgh, UK
Haaris Naqvi, Senior Commissioning Editor
