One of the most profound philosophical problems is the nature of mind and its relationship to the body. A Brief Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind... provides an introduction, written in clear language, to the various theories of the mind-body relationship, as well as a host of related philosophical discussions about mind and consciousness. The central theories, such as Cartesian Dualism, parallelism, epiphenomenalism, and supervenience among others, are presented in historical order. Their claims, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they ultimately relate to one another and to other philosophical questions are explored objectively, allowing readers to decide for themselves which theories are best.

With a written history of nearly five thousand years, the Semitic languages comprise one of the world s earliest attested and longest attested families.... Well known members of the family include Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Amharic, and Akkadian. This volume provides an overview of this important language family, including both ancient and modern languages. After a brief introduction to the history of the family and its internal classification, subsequent chapters cover topics in phonology, morphology, syntax, and lexicon.Each chapter describes features that are characteristic of the Semitic language family as a whole, as well as some of the more extraordinary developments that take place in the individual languages. This provides both a typological overview and a description of more unique features. The chapters contain abundant examples from numerous languages. All the examples include morpheme by morpheme glosses, as well as translations, which help make these examples clear and accessible even to those not familiar with a given language. Concluding the book is a detailed guide to further reading, which directs the reader to the most important reference tools and secondary literature, and an up-to-date bibliography.This brief introduction contains a rich variety of data, and covers topics not normally found in short sketches such as this. The clarity of presentation makes it useful not only to those in the field of Semitic linguistics, but also to the general linguist or language enthusiast who wishes to learn something about this important language family.

A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger is one of the most significant publications of colonial America and represents a major... turning point in the history of freedom of the press and the political development of colonial America and the early republic. The book, published by Zenger in 1736, recounts his 1735 trial on charges of seditious libel and contains groundbreaking arguments by Zenger’s attorney, Andrew Hamilton. In this volume — which reprints the text of the Narrative as well as other contemporary documents, including excerpts from Zenger’s newspaper — Paul Finkelman provides a thorough and lively overview of the issues, events, and political intrigue surrounding the Zenger trial and offers a broad perspective on the trial’s long-term impact. Finkelman’s introduction and headnotes to the documents provide historical context and analysis, which make the documents accessible to students. Other useful pedagogical aids include a chronology, questions for consideration, and a selected bibliography.

A Brief Primer of Helping Skills is a highly readable, accessible, and practical introduction to the skills of helping and making a difference in... people’s lives. In an engaging and concise style, author Jeffrey A. Kottler gives students in various professions an overview of the theory, process, and skills of helping methods. It is designed as an operating manual for those in human service professions to learn the basics involved in developing helping relationships, assessing and diagnosing complaints, promoting exploration and understanding, and designing and implementing action plans.Key FeaturesOffers a brief introduction to the helping process: Written in an accessible and conversational style, this book helps students and professionals become familiar with the basic process quickly.Provides personal applications: This book helps students enrich their lives while learning how to be more helpful to others.Includes applications to a variety of settings and disciplines: Students can actually use material and skills in the book in all the various domains in which they function-at work, in volunteer agencies, with friends and family. Uses an integrative approach: The best features of all major theories and research are combined into a unified model of helping that is responsive to different needs.Intended AudienceThis supplemental text is ideal for introductory undergraduate and graduate courses such as Introduction to Social Work, Introduction to Counseling, and Introduction to Human Services in the fields of counseling, psychology, human services, social work, education, family studies, marital and family therapy, pastoral work, nursing, human resource development, and other helping professions. It is also an excellent resource for beginning practitioners.

How can some people come to believe that their poodle is an impostor? Or see colors in numbers? Internationally acclaimed neuroscientist, V.S.... Ramachandran, now shares his unique insight into human consciousness in an entertaining, inspiring, and intellectually dazzling brief tour of the ultimate frontier—the thoughts in our heads. A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness is made up of five investigations of the greatest mysteries of the brain. The first chapter shows how amputees feel pain in limbs they no longer have as it introduces the great revolution of our age: neuroscience. The second chapter walks through the way what we see determines our thoughts, and demonstrates the counterintuitive point that believing is in fact seeing. The third chapter takes a leap beyond cutting edge science to audaciously set out a general theory of beauty, explaining why, the world over, cultures have fundamentally similar notions of what is attractive. The fourth chapter explores the bizarre world of synesthetes, people who see colors in numbers, textures in smells, sounds in sights, and flavors in sounds. Finally, V. S. Ramachandran one of the foremost brain researchers in the world today, sums up the implications of the revolution in our understanding of consciousness, to make a fascinating argument about our essential sense of self and its distributed nature.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was the best known and best loved African-American poet of her time, as well as a teacher and lecturer on abolition,... suffrage, education, and many other topics. This anthology contains all of her extant poetry and a generous selection of prose and letters, and provides moving portraits of suffering under slavery, as well as of freedom, love, infidelity, poverty, and heroism. As The New York Times Book Review notes, “This anthology . . . not only provides the first modern biography of Harper, but also illuminates her connection to . . . 20th-century writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison.”

Self-mutilation is a behavior so shocking that it is almost never discussed. Yet estimates are that upwards of eight million Americans are chronic... self-injurers. They are people who use knives, razor blades, or broken glass to cut themselves. Their numbers include the actor Johnny Depp, Girl Interrupted author Susanna Kaysen, and the late Princess Diana. Mistakenly viewed as suicide attempts or senseless masochism--even by many health professionals--"cutting" is actually a complex means of coping with emotional pain. Marilee Strong explores this hidden epidemic through case studies, startling new research from psychologists, trauma experts, and neuroscientists, and the heartbreaking insights of cutters themselves--who range from troubled teenagers to middle-age professionals to grandparents. Strong explains what factors lead to self-mutilation, why cutting helps people manage overwhelming fear and anxiety, and how cutters can heal both their internal and external wounds and break the self-destructive cycle. A Bright Red Scream is a groundbreaking, essential resource for victims of self-mutilation, their families, teachers, doctors, and therapists.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Angels in America comes this powerful portrayal of individual dissolution and resolution in the face of... political catastrophe.“It’s brash, audacious and...intoxicatingly visionary.”—Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune

In this magisterial book, a monument of history and biography that was awarded the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, renowned... journalist Neil Sheehan tells the story of Lieutenant Colonel John Paul Vann–"the one irreplaceable American in Vietnam"–and of the tragedy that destroyed that country and the lives of so many Americans.Outspoken and fearless, John Paul Vann arrived in Vietnam in 1962, full of confidence in America's might and right to prevail. A Bright Shining Lie reveals the truth about the war in Vietnam as it unfolded before Vann's eyes: the arrogance and professional corruption of the U.S. military system of the 1960s, the incompetence and venality of the South Vietnamese army, the nightmare of death and destruction that began with the arrival of the American forces. Witnessing the arrogance and self-deception firsthand, Vann put his life and career on the line in an attempt to convince his superiors that the war should be fought another way. But by the time he died in 1972, Vann had embraced the follies he once decried. He went to his grave believing that the war had been won.A haunting and critically acclaimed masterpiece, A Bright Shining Lie is a timeless account of the American experience in Vietnam–a work that is epic in scope, piercing in detail, and told with the keen understanding of a journalist who was actually there. Neil Sheehan' s classic serves as a stunning revelation for all who thought they understood the war.

A rich narrative portrait of post-revolutionary America and the men who shaped its political future   Though the American Revolution is widely... recognized as our nation's founding story, the years immediately following the war—when our government was a disaster and the country was in a terrible crisis—were in fact the most crucial in establishing the country's independence. The group of men who traveled to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 had no idea what kind of history their meeting would make. But all their ideas, arguments, and compromises—from the creation of the Constitution itself, article by article, to the insistence that it remain a living, evolving document—laid the foundation for a government that has surpassed the founders' greatest hopes. Revisiting all the original historical documents of the period and drawing from her deep knowledge of eighteenth-century politics, Carol Berkin opens up the hearts and minds of America's founders, revealing the issues they faced, the times they lived in, and their humble expectations of success.

Ayacucho, Peru. Celebrations for the 2000 Holy Week are about to commence and local deputy district attorney Félix Chacaltana Saldívar, a romantic... fainthearted individual, is about to face the investigation of a brutal murder. This murder marks the beginning of a series of mysterious deaths, where one by one, the people interviewed by him are eliminated. Faced with such horror, he begins to use the non-traditional methods of the Peruvian police and militia. Abril rojo is a novel about Peru s history and secret codes, a novel about the conflict between the military and the Shinning Path during Fujimori s term. Description In Spanish: En Ayacucho y a poco de comenzar la Semana Santa del año 2000, el fiscal Félix Chacaltana Saldívar, solitario, pusilánime, amante de la poesía y de las tradiciones más rancias, ha de enfrentarse a la investigación de un bestial asesinato. Aunque en este país no hay terrorismo por orden superior y más cuando están a punto de celebrarse las elecciones presidenciales, el fiscal no descarta la autoría de Sendero Luminoso. El crimen es el inicio de una serie de muertes misteriosas. Uno tras otro caen todos los que hablan con él. El fiscal, que nunca había hecho nada que no estuviese estipulado en los estatutos de su institución, ha de acercarse a los irregulares métodos de la policía y el ejército peruanos. Poco a poco se convierte en un indeseable para todos, y en un desconocido para sí mismo. Abril rojo es una novela sobre Perú, su historia, sus símbolos, la orgía de corrupción que satura el país, y sobre la guerra que se libró entre el ejército y Sendero Luminoso durante el mandato de Fujimori. Una guerra en la que se pierde Perú y que el pueblo, abandonado en su miseria, sufre sin entender. Oscilando entre la aparente objetividad del fiscal y la fuerza de los hechos, el relato desarrolla con excelente ritmo una trama compleja donde sobresalen veinte años de violencia brutal.