Plants are people too? Not exactly, but in this work of philosophical botany Matthew Hall challenges readers to reconsider the moral standing of plants, arguing that they are other-than-human persons. Plants constitute the bulk of our visible biomass, underpin all natural ecosystems, and make life on Earth possible. Yet plants are considered passive and insensitive beings rightly placed outside moral consideration. As the human assault on nature continues, more ethical behavior toward plants is needed. Hall surveys Western, Eastern, Pagan, and Indigenous thought, as well as modern science and botanical history, for attitudes toward plants, noting the particular resources for plant personhood and those modes of thought which most exclude plants. The most hierarchical systems typically put plants at the bottom, but Hall finds much to support a more positive view of plants. Indeed, some Indigenous animisms actually recognize plants as relational, intelligent beings who are the appropriate recipients of care and respect. New scientific findings encourage this perspective, revealing that plants possess many of the capacities of sentience and mentality traditionally denied them. “All those who depend on plants should critically read Plants as Persons … I highly recommend Plants as Persons as a challenging read for any carnivores, PETA advocates, or emerging academics; the book is thought-provoking for omnivores, medical practitioners, life science enthusiasts, and philosophers … If you are fascinated by plants, you will want this for your personal collection.” — Katie Kamelamela, Economic Botany “Overall, this book is a ‘must read’ for anyone interested in the state of the environment today, whether professionally or as a concerned citizen. It does not simplify the issues but has managed to attain that elusive balance between remaining accessible and readable without sacrificing intellectual range, subtlety and complexity of thought.” — Australian Humanities Review “Dr. Hall does a wonderful job of presenting many layers of research and insight in a very organized way. His introduction outlines the content of his book clearly and each chapter ends with a helpful summary and a smooth transition into the next topic of discussion. There is a lot of information to think about in Plants as Persons. All of it enlightening. Now here is a book that is hard to put down.” — ArtPlantae Today “If you are someone who thought philosophy began and ended with Aristotle and Socrates, then this book will be an eye opener … [it] explains that plants are active, self-directed, and even intelligent. Hall puts forward the view that nature is a communion of subjective, collaborative beings, organizing and experiencing their environment.” — Chicago Botanic Garden “The extension of ethics to the nonhuman, nonanimal is important, and ahead of its time. What a pleasure to experience this well-written, well-researched, interesting approach to applied comparative philosophy. Matthew Hall makes an outstanding contribution to a new and important field of study.” — Christopher Key Chapple, author of Yoga and the Luminous: Patañjali’s Spiritual Path to Freedom

After more than a century of extraordinary growth and development, the science of psychology at last has a reference source that defines the study of mind and behavior. Here in eight superbly organized volumes is the definitive guide to every area of psychological theory, research, and practice. International in scope, the Encyclopedia of Psychology is the first place to turn to for authoritative information on every area of the field. Organized alphabetically, the articles range from 500 to 7,000 words in length including 400 biographies. An extensive system of cross-references and blind entries facilitate research from article to article and clarify links within the field. And an exhaustive index locates topics quickly and easily--providing many points of access across areas of interest and fields of study. The Encyclopedia of Psychology serves a remarkable variety of readers: students and their teachers in every area of psychology as well as in such related fields as sociology, social work, nursing, and allied health; researchers in the cognitive sciences and neurosciences; and clinicians, counselors, and other mental health and human service professionals. It will be the definitive information, research, and reference source for many years to come.

Vol. 2 : F-L. - 546 p.

Scottish history has long been dominated by the romantic tales of Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, Mary Queen of Scots, and Bonnie Prince Charlie. But the explosion of serious historical research in the last half-century has fueled a keen desire for a better-informed and more satisfying understanding of the Scottish past. This attractively designed book--boasting scores of illustrations, include eight color plates--brings together the leading authorities on Scottish history, who range from Roman times until the present day, offering a more accurate and sophisticated portrait of Scotland through the ages. The contributors take us from medieval Scotland, to the crisis created by Mary Queen of Scots and the trauma of Reformation, to the reign of James VI and the Union of the Crowns (1603). They discuss the seventeenth century, when a stern Calvinist Kirk launched an unprecedented attack on music, dancing, drama, and drinking, and the remarkable transformation of enlightenment Scotland, when the small nation became a great force in European literature, with such eminent figures as David Hume, Adam Smith, Robert Burns, and James Boswell. We discover that in the nineteenth century the Scottish economy, by some criteria, outpaced the rest of Britain, and its preeminence in heavy engineering was unquestioned. And we follow Scotland through the turbulent twentieth century, enduring two world wars and a depression, before ending on a high note, with Scotland enjoying its first parliament in three hundred years. What emerges here is a portrait of a confident people who slowly built an important place for themselves in the wider world--the story of a remarkably positive, assured, and successful kingdom.

В філософсько-психологічних романах, що увійшли до цієї книги, видатний іспанський письменник-реаліст Вісенте Бласко Ібаньєс (1867—1928) розповів про трагічну долю двох талановитих людей: знаменитого художника Маріано Реновалеса («Маха гола») і уславленого тореадора Хуана Гальярдо («Кров і пісок»), чиї мрії, творчі задуми, прагнення гинуть у соціальному середовищі, де панують облуда, жадоба збагачення і жорстокість.

У книзі розповідається про маловідомі сторінки життя і діяльності незаслужено замовчуваних учених-природодослідників, вихідців з України, чий внесок у світову і європейську науку важко переоцінити. Зокрема, тут йдеться про безпідставно репресованих у лихі роки сталінських беззаконь українських академіків М. Кравчука і С. Рудницького. Читач матиме змогу ознайомитись з історією дослідження катодних променів українським фізиком І. Пулюєм, який випередив винахід В. Рентгена, довідається про цікаві подробиці життєпису інших видатних учених-українців: ботаніка В. Липського, біохіміка І. Горбачевського, хіміка П. Франка, математиків М. Остроградського і Г. Вороного, М. Чайковського і М. Зарицького та ін. Дізнається читач і про те, як створювалась на еміграції "Енциклопедія українознавства", про українських фізиків у діаспорі тощо.