If there is such a thing as reason, it has to be universal. Reason must reflect objective principles whose validity is independent of our point of view--principles that anyone with enough intelligence ought to be able to recognize as correct. But this generality of reason is what relativists and subjectivists deny in ever-increasing numbers. And such subjectivism is not just an inconsequential intellectual flourish or badge of theoretical chic. It is exploited to deflect argument and to belittle the pretensions of the arguments of others. The continuing spread of this relativistic way of thinking threatens to make public discourse increasingly difficult and to exacerbate the deep divisions of our society. In The Last Word, Thomas Nagel, one of the most influential philosophers writing in English, presents a sustained defense of reason against the attacks of subjectivism, delivering systematic rebuttals of relativistic claims with respect to language, logic, science, and ethics. He shows that the last word in disputes about the objective validity of any form of thought must lie in some unqualified thoughts about how things are--thoughts that we cannot regard from outside as mere psychological dispositions.
The Last Word argues that the Hollywood novel opened up space for cultural critique of the film industry at a time when the industry lacked the capacity to critique itself. While the young studio system worked tirelessly to burnish its public image in the wake of celebrity scandal, several industry insiders wrote fiction to fill in what newspapers and fan magazines left out. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, these novels aimed to expose the invisible machinery of classical Hollywood cinema, including not only the evolving artifice of the screen but also the promotional discourse that complemented it. As likeminded filmmakers in the 1940s and 1950s gradually brought the dark side of the industry to the screen, however, the Hollywood novel found itself struggling to live up to its original promise of delivering the unfilmable. By the 1960s, desperate to remain relevant, the genre had devolved into little more than erotic fantasy of movie stars behind closed doors, perhaps the only thing the public couldn't already find elsewhere. Still, given their unique ability to speak beyond the institutional restraints of their time, these earlier works offer a window into the industry's dynamic creation and re-creation of itself in the public imagination.
The Last Word by Yusuf Dawood concludes the quartet of the Surgeon's Diary - in book format. The other three are Yesterday Today and Tomorrow, Off my Chest, and Behind the Mask. The beautifully executed stories in the Last Word are adorned with occurrences from the author's extensive travels and medical experiences, some heart-rending and others with exultant endings. Dawood's stories are lit with humor and wit that make the myriad medical challenges seem surmountable. The stories though appearing in the Surgeon's Diary are fresh and authentic. Just like in the other three titles that form the quartet, the author has once again used his scalpel and pen with prowess to bring real surgical drama to our doorstep. Dawood, a celebrated surgeon and formidable author, has authored The Price of Living, One Life too Many, Water Under the Bridge, among others. The Last Word is his eleventh title.
Attempting to avert malpractice for voluntary intervention outside of the realm of a psychiatrist a patient is diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic conveniently within the realm of psychiatry leading to the decision to take a medical discharge from the shared employer rather than agree to take psychotic medication with all the associated and numerous potential side effects. While seeking commensurate compensation for a host of injustices including wrongful release, malpractice inclusive of experimentation, wilful negligence, and even fraud and attempted blackmail not only do the relevant systems fail but without exception so do the respective appeal levels resulting in our subject ending up in jail temporarily in solitary confinement now alleged of becoming a dangerous paranoid schizophrenic forced to forfeit all firearms as well as subsequently agree to an order ordinance prohibiting the possession of any firearms or ammunitions for a period of five years, effectively for live, rendering Canada a democratically elected government regulated by nothing more than dictators that the appointed courts condone. Once mortgage free with sizable savings and numerous other assets the victim over a decade later after meeting with about 50 lawyers is broke and mortgaged to the hilt barely able to make minimum monthly payments to remain in a modest 1232 square feet home and afford a life style consisting of little more than the essentials while watching his long held belief of becoming married and having children with someone of his choice in an affluent lifestyle vanish as the sun sets on his youthful years still celibate and no closure to financial compensation for any injustice still experiencing cruelty.
William St. George is a tough-talking lobbyist for gun rights who hides a dark side from everyone but those in his inner circle. As a writer for the Socratic Rag, Matt Tyson wants nothing more than to peel back the man's slick veneer and reveal the naked truth. But moments after Tyson's interview with St. George begins, a bomb threat evacuates the building. It seems the journalist's one chance to get the dirt behind the world of guns and big money in America has just slipped through his fingers. Armed with a list of possible suspects who hate the NRA, FBI Agent Alex Martini immerses himself in the bomb threat investigation. But when a US Senator and a Supreme Court Justice are found murdered, it becomes evident that a radical anti-gun group and the NRA are embroiled in a vicious struggle that threatens the security of the nation. Even so, the real power may be in the hands of Tyson, whose drive to write a good story soon leads him into dangerous territory. In this political thriller, an FBI agent and an investigative reporter uncover a sinister plot involving the NRA, billionaire twins with a political agenda, and a maniacal West Coast lawyer--and only one of them will have the last word.
In this final installment in the trilogy that begins with his award-winning "A New Kind Of Christian," McLaren tells an intriguing fictional tale that raises urgent questions about hell and what it means for the Christian view of God.
The Last Word investigates the debased art of eulogy. Through insightful, surprisingly playful readings of famous eulogies (from a scene in Love Actually to Jacques Derrida’s heart-rending essays on the deaths of his peers), Cooper argues against the socially sanctioned desire to avoid thinking about death that results in clichéd memorials, honoring neither the living nor the dead.
This volume emerges from a partnership between the American Federation of Teachers and the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. The partnership brought together researchers and expert teachers for intensive dialogue sessions focusing on what each community knows about effective mathematical learning and instruction. The chapters deal with the research on, and conceptual analysis of, specific arithmetic topics (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, and fractions) or with overarching themes that pervade the early curriculum and constitute the links with the more advanced topics of mathematics (intuition, number sense, and estimation). Serving as a link between the communities of cognitive researchers and mathematics educators, the book capitalizes on the recent research successes of cognitive science and reviews the literature of the math education community as well.
