Here are 100 books that Some Reflections on Ethics fans have personally recommended if you like Some Reflections on Ethics. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence

Jennifer Hancock Author Of Mastering the Five Managerial Superpowers

From my list on help you master your mind and live life fully.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my career exploring how people think, learn, and respond to challenges. I was raised as a Humanist, but my journey into behavioral psychology began in college while training dolphins in Hawaii. I learned firsthand how behavior is shaped through reinforcement and response. It’s easy to see how my humanism combined with behavioral psychology has fed a lifelong passion for understanding how to master our minds so we can navigate life with clarity and purpose. As an author, speaker, and behavioral science expert, I teach people how to manage change, deal with difficult people, and lead with integrity. I’m excited to share these books to help you live life fully.

Jennifer's book list on help you master your mind and live life fully

Jennifer Hancock Why Jennifer loves this book

I love this book because it is the first brain theory book I’ve read that specifically explains what the neocortex is and does and how it creates consciousness. Understanding the brain is a pattern recognition organ explains so much about what we know in behavioral psychology and how humans learn and adapt to change.

Understanding how our brains function and learn and how they can get hijacked is essential for both personal growth and professional leadership. This knowledge is so important to who we are as human beings that I believe it should be standard education for every thinking person on earth. 

By Jeff Hawkins ,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Thousand Brains as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

For all we hear of neuroscience's great advances, the field has generated more questions than answers. We know that the brain combines sensory input from all over your body into a single perception, but not how. We think brains "compute" in some sense, but we can't say what those computations are. We believe that the brain is organized as a hierarchy, with different pieces all working collaboratively to make a single model of the world. But we can explain neither how those pieces are differentiated, nor how they collaborate.

Neuroscientist and computer engineer Jeff Hawkins argues that it's so hard…


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Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Book cover of You Learn by Living

Jennifer Hancock Author Of Mastering the Five Managerial Superpowers

From my list on help you master your mind and live life fully.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my career exploring how people think, learn, and respond to challenges. I was raised as a Humanist, but my journey into behavioral psychology began in college while training dolphins in Hawaii. I learned firsthand how behavior is shaped through reinforcement and response. It’s easy to see how my humanism combined with behavioral psychology has fed a lifelong passion for understanding how to master our minds so we can navigate life with clarity and purpose. As an author, speaker, and behavioral science expert, I teach people how to manage change, deal with difficult people, and lead with integrity. I’m excited to share these books to help you live life fully.

Jennifer's book list on help you master your mind and live life fully

Jennifer Hancock Why Jennifer loves this book

Eleanor Roosevelt’s wisdom is both practical and profound.

This book is full of life lessons I use every day. Her examples of how she handled difficulties and difficult people while balancing family and friends and leadership are inspiring to me as a woman. Her approach to lifelong learning and being fully human is one I think can benefit everyone to improve themselves personally and professionally. 

By Eleanor Roosevelt ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Learn by Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the world's most celebrated and public figures, comes this wise and intimate book on how to get the most out of life-now available in a limited Olive Edition. One of the most beloved figures of the twentieth century, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt remains a role model for a life well lived. At the age of seventy-six, Roosevelt penned this simple guide to living a fuller life. You Learn by Living is a powerful volume of enduring common sense ideas and heartfelt values. Offering her own philosophy on living, Eleanor takes readers on a path to…


Book cover of The Power of Pause

Jennifer Hancock Author Of Mastering the Five Managerial Superpowers

From my list on help you master your mind and live life fully.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my career exploring how people think, learn, and respond to challenges. I was raised as a Humanist, but my journey into behavioral psychology began in college while training dolphins in Hawaii. I learned firsthand how behavior is shaped through reinforcement and response. It’s easy to see how my humanism combined with behavioral psychology has fed a lifelong passion for understanding how to master our minds so we can navigate life with clarity and purpose. As an author, speaker, and behavioral science expert, I teach people how to manage change, deal with difficult people, and lead with integrity. I’m excited to share these books to help you live life fully.

Jennifer's book list on help you master your mind and live life fully

Jennifer Hancock Why Jennifer loves this book

Pausing before reacting is one of my most powerful tools for making better decisions. I teach this technique in all of my classes and books, and to back up my advice–I recommend this book.

It reinforces the importance of taking a moment to reflect, which is something I not only recommend when dealing with conflicts and problems but that I practice myself. It is astonishingly hard to do, but I am convinced that my ability to think strategically starts with my ability to pause. It gives me just enough space so that I can choose my response and not just knee-jerk reactions to situations I find myself in. 

By Nance Guilmartin ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Power of Pause as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A clear, actionable plan to fight frustration at work, make savvier decisions, and avoid costly mistakes when we're short on time, attention, and choices

One of the most frustrating dilemmas for working people today is how to be effective when we feel we don't have time or we're facing non-stop demands. The Power of Pause process is a dynamic practice that Nance Guilmartin has taught thousands of people worldwide, equipping them to regain control of thoughts and avoid miscommunications. This tested method helps readers to take a moment to wonder what's called for when we feel we're short on time,…


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Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Book cover of The Unheard Cry for Meaning

Jennifer Hancock Author Of Mastering the Five Managerial Superpowers

From my list on help you master your mind and live life fully.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent my career exploring how people think, learn, and respond to challenges. I was raised as a Humanist, but my journey into behavioral psychology began in college while training dolphins in Hawaii. I learned firsthand how behavior is shaped through reinforcement and response. It’s easy to see how my humanism combined with behavioral psychology has fed a lifelong passion for understanding how to master our minds so we can navigate life with clarity and purpose. As an author, speaker, and behavioral science expert, I teach people how to manage change, deal with difficult people, and lead with integrity. I’m excited to share these books to help you live life fully.

Jennifer's book list on help you master your mind and live life fully

Jennifer Hancock Why Jennifer loves this book

This book by Frankl is one that has probably had the most impact on me. I quote him all the time in my work. It weaves together humanism, psychology, and philosophy to explore our search for meaning as humans and the impact this search has on our mental health.

I love how he approaches life’s struggles with deep compassion, insight, and science. I found it to be a powerful guide to understanding myself and to help explain why seeking meaning and purpose through ethics is so important to...everything and everyone. I think this is one of the most important psychology/philosophy books ever written. 

By Viktor E. Frankl ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Unheard Cry for Meaning as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

[This is the Audiobook CASSETTE Library Edition in vinyl case.]

In our age of depersonalization, Frankl teaches the value of living to the fullest.

Upon his death in 1997, Viktor E. Frankl was lauded as one of the most influential thinkers of our time. The Unheard Cry for Meaning marked his return to the humanism that made Man's Search for Meaning a bestseller around the world. In these selected essays, written between 1947 and 1977, Dr. Frankl illustrates the vital importance of the human dimension in psychotherapy. Using a wide range of subjects--including sex, morality, modern literature, competitive athletics, and…


Book cover of Media Ethics and Global Justice in the Digital Age

Raphael Cohen-Almagor Author Of Confronting the Internet's Dark Side: Moral and Social Responsibility on the Free Highway

From my list on the internet's history, development, and challenges.

Why am I passionate about this?

Raphael Cohen-Almagor, DPhil, St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, is Professor of Politics, Olof Palme Visiting Professor, Lund University, Founding Director of the Middle East Study Centre, University of Hull, and Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Raphael taught, inter alia, at Oxford (UK), Jerusalem, Haifa (Israel), UCLA, Johns Hopkins (USA), and Nirma University (India). With more than 300 publications, Raphael has published extensively in the field of political philosophy, including Liberal Democracy and the Limits of Tolerance; Challenges to Democracy; The Right to Die with Dignity; The Scope of Tolerance; Confronting the Internet's Dark Side; Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism, and The Republic, Secularism and Security: France versus the Burqa and the Niqab.

Raphael's book list on the internet's history, development, and challenges

Raphael Cohen-Almagor Why Raphael loves this book

For me, every book by Clifford (Cliff) Christians is always a celebration. I met Cliff in 1996 and we kept in touch ever since then. Christians has contributed to the field of media ethics more than any other scholar I know. In this book, Christians explores the fundamentals of ethics and justice in moral theory. In addition to “the usual suspects,” i.e., Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, Rene Descartes, John Stuart Mill, Auguste Comte, and Max Weber, Christians explores modern liberal philosophy, feminist philosophy, African philosophy, Latin American liberation theology, Confucianism, and Islam. He does this in his usual dazzling and most comprehensive style, exhibiting wide knowledge of the literature and brilliant analysis that adds layers upon layers of sharp insights. As in his previous books, Christians invokes an ethics of care and humanity in order to alleviate poverty, homelessness, and unemployment, issues that trouble Western and non-Western societies, albeit in different…

By Clifford G. Christians ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Media Ethics and Global Justice in the Digital Age as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Today's digital revolution is a worldwide phenomenon, with profound and often differential implications for communities around the world and their relationships to one another. This book presents a new, explicitly international theory of media ethics, incorporating non-Western perspectives and drawing deeply on both moral philosophy and the philosophy of technology. Clifford Christians develops an ethics grounded in three principles - truth, human dignity, and non-violence - and shows how these principles can be applied across a wide range of cases and domains. The book is a guide for media professionals, scholars, and educators who are concerned with the global ramifications…


Book cover of On Liberty

Paul Guyer Author Of Virtues of Freedom

From my list on freedom in theory and practice.

Why am I passionate about this?

I discovered philosophy while still in high school and was lucky to study with some of the most exciting philosophers of the twentieth century in college and graduate school. I then taught philosophy in several of America’s great universities for fifty years myself. I have been fascinated by the philosophy of Kant since my first year of college and I gradually came to see Kant’s theory of the value of freedom as the core of his philosophy and a reason to devote a lifetime to studying it. I hope you will find these books as illuminating and rewarding as I have.

Paul's book list on freedom in theory and practice

Paul Guyer Why Paul loves this book

From a different tradition and in a different, more accessible language, Mill also brilliantly defended the principle that everyone should be as free as possible as long as their choices do not harm other people. He was particularly aware that public opinion can be just as much of a constraint on the freedom of individuals as laws and courts can be.

I love Mill because of his clear commitment to this principle, his straightforward prose and arguments, and his striking examples.

By John Stuart Mill ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked On Liberty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discussed and debated from time immemorial, the concept of personal liberty went without codification until the 1859 publication of On Liberty. John Stuart Mill's complete and resolute dedication to the cause of freedom inspired this treatise, an enduring work through which the concept remains well known and studied.
The British economist, philosopher, and ethical theorist's argument does not focus on "the so-called Liberty of the Will…but Civil, or Social Liberty: the nature and limits of the power which can be legitimately exercised by society over the individual." Mill asks and answers provocative questions relating to the boundaries of social authority…


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Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of The Ordinary Business of Life: A History of Economics from the Ancient World to the Twenty-First Century

Panayotis G. Michaelides Author Of History of Economic Ideas: From Adam Smith to Paul Krugman

From my list on the evolution of economics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a Full Professor and Lab Director in Economics. My interest in this field began when I traveled abroad and observed the differences in prices, goods, and quality of life. In order to gain a deeper understanding, I decided to switch from my previous academic background in Engineering, Mathematics & Physics to Economics, Finance & Data Science. Today, I am dedicated to expanding my knowledge and sharing my insights through teaching, academic publications, and LinkedIn posts. According to the latest rankings, I am humbled to be among the top 3% most productive economists worldwide (IDEAS-RePec, 2023), as well as being ranked among the top 4% researchers in Financial Economics, and the top 5% in Econometrics (Researchgate, 2023).

Panayotis' book list on the evolution of economics

Panayotis G. Michaelides Why Panayotis loves this book

I became well acquainted with Economics after my undergraduate studies, and found this book to be an excellent resource.

It begins with the ancient Greeks and culminates in the modern era. It elaborates upon crucial issues such as money, markets, prices, and production. What sets it apart from others is its focus on the evolution of economic ideas, rather than the economists themselves.

Backhouse's writing style is clear and accessible, and makes even complex concepts understandable. One thing I appreciate is that Backhouse demonstrates that no economic theory emerges "out of nowhere" as is often implied, rather it builds on its predecessors.

This book offers insights that have stayed with me long after reading, and I still refer to it for its depth of knowledge.

By Roger E. Backhouse ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Ordinary Business of Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A very clear, reliable and readable history of economic thought from the ancient world to the present day. From Homer to Marx to John Stuart Mill, Backhouse shows how to keep your Keynsians from your post-Keynsians and New Keynsians. A core book.


Book cover of Four Essays on Liberty

James Fallon Author Of The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey Into the Dark Side of the Brain

From my list on philosophies.

Why am I passionate about this?

Philosophy is defined as “the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.” Put another way, it is not so much the study of things and phenomena, but the derivative question below the veneer of what things are. I am interested in everything, how everything works, but also why it, and all of nature, including the mind and eyelashes, exist in the first place. I can remember back to childhood always thinking like this. This involves grasping for knowledge of both the details and global contexts of everything, whether it’s biology, chemistry, religion, neuroscience, horticulture, violence, goodness, hockey, or even what Plato was trying to say.

James' book list on philosophies

James Fallon Why James loves this book

I mention this book as a way to listen to some old hour-long video talks by the sage Isaiah Berlin. He did, in fact, hate to write, but he loved talking. After reading any of his several essays, go right to the meat. Which will give the political, philosophical How-to Guide to leading a Nazi, Marxist or Terrorist revolution. I give talks and podcasts on the biological psychiatry of such evils and he is my go-to guy.

By Isaiah Berlin ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Four Essays on Liberty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The four essays are `Political Ideas in the Twentieth Century'; `Historical Inevitability', which the Economist described as `a magnificent assertion of the reality of human freedom, of the role of free choice in history'; `Two Concepts of Liberty', a ringing manifesto for pluralism and individual freedom; and `John Stuart Mill and the Ends of Life'. There is also a long and masterly introduction written specially for this collection, in which the author replies to his critics. This book is intended for students from undergraduate level upwards studying philosopohy, history, politics. Admirers of Isaiah Berlin's writings.


Book cover of 2000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt

Eric Maisel Author Of Choose Your Life Purposes

From my list on the truth about the truth.

Why am I passionate about this?

The sixty books I’ve written wander in and out of existential thought, as that breakthrough thinking, where man was told to take personal responsibility for his life and stop looking up or elsewhere for purpose and meaning, has informed everything I do and write about. Over the years, I’ve been a family therapist, a creativity coach, an existential wellness coach, and an advocate for critical psychology and critical psychiatry, points of view that dispute the current pseudo-medical “mental disorder” paradigm. 

Eric's book list on the truth about the truth

Eric Maisel Why Eric loves this book

My love for books of quotations began when my publisher, Jeremy Tarcher, asked me to create a “quote campaign” for my book. Ever since then, I have loved quotation books—and this is my favorite, by far. James Haught has culled (pre-Internet!) thousands of quotes from skeptics, doubters, and freethinkers who wanted to know for themselves—who wanted to arrive at the truth about the truth through their own experiences and the evidence of their eyes.

The list of quoted authors would run for pages, but among them are the great ancients like Epictetus, Aristophanes, Cicero, and Euripides, through the Renaissance, the European Enlightenment, and the first American Rationalists, all the way to our modern times of the British language philosophers (like Bertrand Russell) and the French existentialists (like Sartre). If you are the least bit skeptical, this will become your favorite bedside reading ever!

By James A. Haugt ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked 2000 Years of Disbelief as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Society rarely acknowledges the many and varied gifts that disbelievers give to the world. This insightful, witty collection sets the record straight by profiling dozens of famous people who were skeptical of conventional religious beliefs. Included, among others, are Isaac Asimov, W.E.B. DuBois, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Benjamin Franklin, Omar Khayyam, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, John Stuart Mill, Ayn Rand, Gene Roddenberry, Margaret Sanger, George Bernard Shaw, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Voltaire, with many quotes that reveal their rejection of the supernatural.


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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow

David Schweickart Author Of After Capitalism

From my list on climate change and seeing it through new eyes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a certain degree of scientific expertise deriving from the education leading to my Ph.D. in mathematics and a deep interest in ethical issues, which led to my pursuing a second Ph.D. in philosophy. I am passionate about the issue of climate change, because (among other reasons) I have four grandchildren who will be living in the new world that is being created now. As I often said to my students during my last few years of teaching, “You are living at the time when the most momentous event in human history is unfolding. Historians of the future—if there are any remaining—will write extensively about this period, about what happened and why, about what those of us alive today did or did not do.”

David's book list on climate change and seeing it through new eyes

David Schweickart Why David loves this book

I read this book to stay true to my commitment, inspired by John Stuart Mill, to always make an effort to understand the strongest against your own convictions (a key reason for always including Milton Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom in my political philosophy courses). Like most progressives in the 70s, I was part of the anti-nuclear movement, not just opposition to nuclear weapons, but to nuclear power as well. I did not expect this book to radically shift these commitments—but it did. Not the first one, but the second. I realized on reading this book that I had not thought seriously about these issues in decades. The issue of climate change was not on the table in those days, and I had not paid much attention to the development of nuclear power since then. The issue today is too urgent to ignore. Looking at the evidence presented in this book…

By Joshua S. Goldstein , Staffan A. Qvist ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Bright Future as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As climate change begins to take a serious toll on the planet--with much more damage yet to come--a solution to our warming problems is hiding in plain sight. We need to commit to de-carbonizing our economy, and do so immediately, but so far we have lacked the courage to really try.

Our fears of nuclear energy have grown irrationally large, even as our fears of climate change are irrationally small.

In this clear-sighted and compelling book, Joshua Goldstein and Steffan Qvist come bearing good news: a real solution, one that is fast, cheap, and provably works. Based on Sweden's success…


Book cover of A Thousand Brains: A New Theory of Intelligence
Book cover of You Learn by Living
Book cover of The Power of Pause

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Interested in humanism, ethics, and philosophy?

Humanism 37 books
Ethics 151 books
Philosophy 1,933 books