The present study, begun in 1945, Is in part the outgrowth of my earlier book Paths of Life, published in 1942. In that book's interpretation of religious attitudes and ethical systems past and present, three basic dimensions of value were postulated, and seven possible value patterns were analyzed in terms of those dimensions. The seventh of the patterns, or life-orientations, had never been manifested by a major social group, but it was felt that the pattern held promise for man's future. Such an analysis of patterned, dimensional human values seemed worthy of sustained and critical investigation. The belief that a scientific study of values might also advance the enterprise of the humanities was in part related to the philosophical tradition of American pragmatism. Peirce, James, Dewey, Mead, and Lewis were major influences on my thinking, and they had all believed that evaluations were much like scientific judgments and (with some variations) that a scientific study of values and evaluations not only was possible but would be of service to man in his characteristic activity as valuer. It seemed desirable to put this philosophic position to a serious empirical test. -- Preface (p.vii).

Drawing on insights from philosophy, ethics, law and biology, a naturalist and philosopher advocates on behalf of biodiversity, addressing urgent questions about the destruction of species, and provides a new framework for appreciating and defending every form of life.

The Book Presents A Holistic Picture Of The Good Life Which Transcends The Prevalent Narrow Understanding Of What Constitutes Success, Fulfilment And Happiness In Life. It Offers A Fresh Interpretation Of Human Values As The Collectivity Of All Those Values Which Enrich The Different Dimensions Of Life Material, Societal, Psychological, Aesthetic, Ethical And Spiritual. A Harmonious Realisation Of All These Values Helps Us Grow As Truly And Fully Human Persons. The Book Synthesises Ideas Drawn From Both The Classical Indian Value Tradition And The Modern Western Humanistic Thought. The Two Are Looked Upon As Being Complementary And Not Antagonistic.The Book Should Appeal To All Those Who Are Concerned About Questions Like How To Be A Good Person?, How To Live A Good Life?, And How To Help Create A Good Society? It Should Be Of Special Interest To Professionals. They Are Now Expected Not Only To Solve Specific Technical Problems Competently, But Also To Examine Their Work In Relation To The Larger Social, Ethical And Human Context. To Equip Them With Such Competency, Some Universities And Institutes Have Introduced Courses On Value Related Themes. The Book Should Prove Helpful As A Textbook For Such Courses.

This original and engaging book advocates an unabashedly empirical approach to understanding human values: abstract ideals that we consider important, such as freedom, equality, achievement, helpfulness, security, tradition, and peace. Our values are relevant to everything we do, helping us choose between careers, schools, romantic partners, places to live, things to buy, who to vote for, and much more. There is enormous public interest in the psychology of values and a growing recognition of the need for a deeper understanding of the ways in which values are embedded in our attitudes and behavior. How do they affect our well-being, our relationships with other people, our prosperity, and our environment? In his examination of these questions, Maio focuses on tests of theories about values, through observations of what people actually think and do. In the past five decades, psychological research has learned a lot about values, and this book describes what we have learned and why it is important. It provides the first overview of psychological research looking at how we mentally represent and use our values, and constitutes important reading for psychology students at all levels, as well as academics in psychology and related social and health sciences.

The best-selling author of Why the West Rules—for Now examines the evolution and future of human values Most people in the world today think democracy and gender equality are good, and that violence and wealth inequality are bad. But most people who lived during the 10,000 years before the nineteenth century thought just the opposite. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, biology, and history, Ian Morris explains why. Fundamental long-term changes in values, Morris argues, are driven by the most basic force of all: energy. Humans have found three main ways to get the energy they need—from foraging, farming, and fossil fuels. Each energy source sets strict limits on what kinds of societies can succeed, and each kind of society rewards specific values. But if our fossil-fuel world favors democratic, open societies, the ongoing revolution in energy capture means that our most cherished values are very likely to turn out not to be useful any more. Foragers, Farmers, and Fossil Fuels offers a compelling new argument about the evolution of human values, one that has far-reaching implications for how we understand the past—and for what might happen next. Originating as the Tanner Lectures delivered at Princeton University, the book includes challenging responses by classicist Richard Seaford, historian of China Jonathan Spence, philosopher Christine Korsgaard, and novelist Margaret Atwood.

This book is designed to usher the reader into the realm of semiotic studies. It analyzes the most important approaches to semiotics as they have developed over the last hundred years out of philosophy, linguistics, psychology, and biology. As a science of sign processes, semiotics investigates all types of com munication and information exchange among human beings, animals, plants, internal systems of organisms, and machines. Thus it encompasses most of the subject areas of the arts and the social sciences, as well as those of biology and medicine. Semiotic inquiry into the conditions, functions, and structures of sign processes is older than anyone scientific discipline. As a result, it is able to make the underlying unity of these disciplines apparent once again without impairing their function as specializations. Semiotics is, above all, research into the theoretical foundations of sign oriented disciplines: that is, it is General Semiotics. Under the name of Zei chenlehre, it has been pursued in the German-speaking countries since the age of the Enlightenment. During the nineteenth century, the systematic inquiry into the functioning of signs was superseded by historical investigations into the origins of signs. This opposition was overcome in the first half of the twentieth century by American Semiotic as well as by various directions of European structuralism working in the tradition of Semiology. Present-day General Semiot ics builds on all these developments.