Table of Content
18 new readings from important thinkers include landmark essays from great thinkers across the ages, such as Hsun Tzu's argument that man's nature is evil, John Maynard Keynes's thoughts on the end of a laissez-faire economy, Carol Gilligan's examination of the self and morality, Francis Fukuyama's exploration of the middle class and democracy, and Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Two new foundational ideas explore enduring themes that impact students: Culture offers readings on a range of cultural issues, including Jacob Riis's landmark discussion of race division, arguments about cultural justice from Martin Luther King Jr. and John Rawls, Neil Postman's essay on language and culture, and discussions on gender from Virginia Woolf, Margaret Mead, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Judith Butler. Science presents classic essays from Plato, Francis Bacon, and Charles Darwin alongside contemporary discussions of science from Richard Feynman, Edward O. Wilson, Michio Kaku, Philip Kitcher, and Lisa Randall. New chapter-wide questions ask students to relate the text's themes to their own experience: Considerations questions at the end of each chapter introduction ask students to examine their own assumptions about the theme before they begin reading. Reflections questions after the last reading in each chapter ask students to reflect on what they have learned about the theme and prompt them to find connections to the readings within their own lives.
