Anne Colby - Böcker

A look at the lives of twenty-three American moral leaders shows how these hometown heroes acquired their moral goals and sustained them in the face of grave risk and sacrifice, working for everything from civil rights to the poor.

Cynicism often seems a smarter choice than idealism, and there are seemingly good reasons for this. Politicians have disappointed us time and again, trusted institutions have proven silf-serving and corrupt, and social inequities persist and increase, unabated by even the grandest of charitable efforts. Moreover, trends in contemporrary moral psychology support this bleak view of the human condition. Famous studies have shown that we have an almost unlimited potential for cruelty when placed in the wrong situations. Other studies imply that our moral responses are dictated by inborn biological intuitions, or that people do little more than act out conventional cultural scripts when confronted with moral chices.The Power of Ideals presents a different vision, supported by a different kind of evidence. It examines the lives and work of six 20th century moral leaders who pursued moral causes ranging from world peace to social justice and human rights. Using these six cases to illustrate how people can make choices guided by their moral convictions, rather than by base emotion or social pressures, authors William Damon and Anne Colby explore the workings of three virtues: inner truthfulness, humility, and faith. Through their portrayal of the noble lives of moral leaders, the authors argue that everyone --including those of us with ordinary lives -- can exercise control over important life decisions and pursue ideals that inspire us. The Power of Ideals offers a hopeful and much-needed vision for moral progress in the worl.This message flies in the face of contemporary thought in moral psychology, much of which has drawn mainstream media coverage in recent years. But the more accurate, constructive, and inspiring view in The Power of Ideals provides a sound basis for helping all people achieve their moral potentials. The Power of Ideals offers a needed and hopeful vision for personal well-being, for rebuilding trust among disillusioned citizens, for the flourishing of democracy, and for moral progress in the world.

Studies of human development have taken an ethnographic turn in the 1990s. In this volume, anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists discuss how qualitative methodologies have strengthened the understanding of cognitive, emotional and behavioural development, and of the difficulties of growing up in contemporary society. Part One, informed by a post-positivist philosophy of science, argues for the validity of ethnographic knowledge. Part Two examines a range of qualitative methods, from participant observation to the hermeneutic elaboration of texts. In Part Three, ethnographic methods are applied to issues of human development across the life span and to social problems including poverty, racial and ethnic marginality, and crime. Restoring ethnographic methods to a central place in social inquiry, the 22 essays in this text should interest everyone concerned with the epistemological problems of context, meaning and subjectivity in the behavioural sciences.

Studies of human development have taken an ethnographic turn in the 1990s. In this volume, anthropologists, psychologists and sociologists discuss how qualitative methodologies have strengthened the understanding of cognitive, emotional and behavioural development, and of the difficulties of growing up in contemporary society. Part One, informed by a post-positivist philosophy of science, argues for the validity of ethnographic knowledge. Part Two examines a range of qualitative methods, from participant observation to the hermeneutic elaboration of texts. In Part Three, ethnographic methods are applied to issues of human development across the life span and to social problems including poverty, racial and ethnic marginality, and crime. Restoring ethnographic methods to a central place in social inquiry, the 22 essays in this text should interest everyone concerned with the epistemological problems of context, meaning and subjectivity in the behavioural sciences.

Business is the largest undergraduate major in the United States and still growing. This reality, along with the immense power of the business sector and its significance for national and global well-being, makes quality education critical not only for the students themselves but also for the public good. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching's national study of undergraduate business education found that most undergraduate programs are too narrow, failing to challenge students to question assumptions, think creatively, or understand the place of business in larger institutional contexts. Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education examines these limitations and describes the efforts of a diverse set of institutions to address them by integrating the best elements of liberal arts learning with business curriculum to help students develop wise, ethically grounded professional judgment.