Gabriele Taylor presents a philosophical investigation of the 'ordinary' vices traditionally seen as 'death to the soul': sloth, envy, avarice, pride, anger, lust, and gluttony. This complements recent work by moral philosophers on virtue, and opens up the neglected topic of the vices for further study. Whilst in a mild form the vices may be ordinary and common failings, Deadly Vices makes the case that for those wholly in their grip they are fatally destructive, preventing the flourishing of the self and of a worthwhile life. An agent therefore has a powerful reason to avoid such states and dispositions and rather to cultivate those virtues that counteract a deadly vice. In dealing with individual vices, their impact on the self, and their interrelation, Deadly Vices offers a unified account of the vices that not only encompasses the healing virtues but also engages with issues in the philosophy of mind as well as in moral philosophy, and shows the connection between them. Literary examples are used to highlight central features of individual vices and set them in context.

In-Between God explores three important areas for contemporary Christianity: theology, community and discipleship. Part One inquires into the rhythms of faith as it interacts with themes of uncertainty and doubt, the nature of theological discourse, the task of systematic theology, evangelism and the various ways in which theology is done. Part Two discusses the importance of place in relation to the church, and themes of innovation, undecideability and new forms of monastic community. Part Three addresses themes in discipleship: simplicity, mysticism, the passions and pilgrimage. A red thread connecting these essays is the character of the triune God who is the energy and life in between all things.

This book examines what makes someone an evil person and how evil people are different from merely bad people. Rather than focusing on the "problem of evil" that occupies philosophers of religion, Barry looks instead to moral psychology-the intersection of ethics and psychology. He provides both a philosophical account of what evil people are like and considers the implications of that account for social, legal, and criminal institutions. He also engages in traditional philosophical reasoning strongly informed by psychological research, especially abnormal and social psychology. In response to the popularity of phrases like "the axis of evil" and the ease with which politicians and others describe their opponents as "evil," Barry sets out to make clear just what it is to be an evil person.

The Bright and the Good examines the connection between intellectual and moral virtues both through the history of philosophy and as it can be illustrated in comprehensive examinations of specific virtues. The first part of the book investigates the original assumptions posited by Ancient Western philosophers concerning the apparent connection between moral and intellectual virtues. The second part follows the assumptions through history from the Medieval and Modern periods of philosophy, noting how the assumption has been tweaked to accommodate specific ideological and scientific precepts. The third part showcases inquiries into specific virtues, taking the reader on an investigation unfettered by any specific time period or ideology so as to consider the apparent connection between the moral and the intellectual on a case-by-case basis. These essays relate both historical context and contemporary concerns and examine topics including vice, ignorance, hope, courage, patience, justice and mercy.

This book explores our uniquely political vices: hubris, willful blindness, and recalcitrance. According to Mark Button this overlooked class of vice encompasses those persistent dispositions of character and conduct that threaten the functioning of democratic institutions and the trust that citizens place in these institutions to secure a just political order. Political Vices provides an account for how citizens can best contend with our most troubling political "sins" without undermining core commitments to liberalism or pluralism.

In The Vices of Learning: Morality and Knowledge at Early Modern Universities, Sari Kivistö examines scholarly vices in the late Baroque and early Enlightenment periods. Moral criticism of the learned was a favourite theme of Latin dissertations, treatises and satires written in Germany ca. 1670–1730. Works on scholarly pride, logomachy, curiosity and other vices kept the presses running at German Protestant universities as well as farther north. Kivistö shows how scholars constructed fame and how the process involved various means of producing celebrity. The book industry, plagiarism and impressive titles were all labelled dishonest means of advancing a career. In The Vices of Learning Kivistö argues that scholarly ethics was an essential part of the early modern intellectual framework.

Here is presented for the first time an extraordinary medieval text, the first Old French Vie des Pères. The Vie des Pères is in fact a collective text comprising three branches and, at its fullest, over seventy individually enclosed pious tales / miracles. The first Vie – the first forty-one or -two tales – dates from the first third of the thirteenth century. It is a vitally significant but hitherto neglected part of the Old French canon. Indeed, in his preface to this volume Michel Zink, one of the most respected medievalists of his generation, notes that the qualities of the Vie des Pèrs ‘devraient valoir à son auteur une place au voisinage de celle qu’occupent pour nous celui de la Chanson de Roland ou Chrétien de Troyes.’ The tales are remarkably well written and offer fascinating glimpses of thirteenth-century life and spirituality. They were also extremely popular in Medieval France. Sharing close links with a number of traditions – fabliaux, Saints’ Lives, Miracles of the Virgin, Romance, Sermons – the Vie des Pères has value for those interested in many branches of vernacular literature, codicology, lexicography, art history, theology and philology. Tales of Vice and Virtue – the first sustained analysis of the entire first Vie des Pères to be published – is a groundbreaking book providing readers new to the text with detailed commentaries, offering abundant intertextual information for romance philologists, and suggesting many new areas for further research.

In The Dark Side of the Soul, the author explains and illustrates the 'Seven Deadly Sins' with contemporary examples. 'Sin' is an old-fashioned word for some startlingly contemporary problems. Far from being about trivial naughtiness or seedy self-indulgence, it's about the financial scandals that have rocked our world, and most of the ills that beset us today. In clear and accessible language, Cherry shows that the traditional Christian concept of sin is a vital tool in understanding what is wrong with human beings. Far from leading people into a guilt-trap, 'sin' is a healthy and truthful word that can help to set us free. Human beings are neither intrinsically evil nor congenitally inclined to virtue, but many of the problems and predicaments that trouble us today can be better understood, and more effectively resolved, if their deeper roots are taken into account. In this fresh interpretation, the author shows that, for example, our economic problems, and our fixation on financial criteria in decision-making, can be understood through the twin lenses of avarice and lust. Our obsessive busyness is a manifestation of sloth; and our desire to control, and our perfectionism, are outworkings of spiritual pride. Crucially, although sin is an important and necessary word for people to understand and come to terms with, it is never, in the Christian worldview, the last word.

This unique book uses life cycle theory to focus on the person who ministers, providing a pastoral model consisting of three important dimensions. Instead of concentrating solely on the role of the pastor as personal comforter, Donald Capps also emphasizes the dimensions of the pastor's role as moral counselor and ritual coordinator. In addition to summarizing Erik Erikson's life cycle theory, Capps addresses topics rarely discussed in pastoral care literature. His discussion of the Book of Proverbs provides a biblical foundation for the model of pastoral care developed throughout the book.

The Book Heart to Pen is an autobiographical compendium of my real life experiences. It is a repertoire of my lifes journey prolific with great many roles effectuated as a sojourner, teacher, romantic spiritual seeker crowded with stories of struggles, adventures and spiritual insights narrated as anecdotes and short passages mirroring lifes ideals. A few of the collections are creative parables versed in jewels of wisdom. Every experience is unique in its own way cropped up during my work, travel or spontaneous visits to new places, when met different people during the course my journey since the past to the present commanded my admiration and inspired my conscious endeavor imbibing in me the values of life. Many stories portrayed reflect the day today situations every common man confronts stimulating the readers to be inquisitive of their own self questioning about their prime purpose. A few of the reminiscences depicted are my spiritual insights experienced leading to inner traverse of self echoing the deepest channels of human life and human spirit. Heart to Pen breaks a new ground in enriching and reigniting ones lost ethics sharpening the value of critical thinking on par brilliance providing a rich exposure to life skills.