Highlights
Focus on Humanity
Being Human is the first humanities reader that focuses on humanity in the literal sense—what it’s like to be human. The core issues that the selections tackle are especially relevant as new biotechnologies emerge and with them procedures that can alter the way people live their lives.
Clustering the selections around basic biological questions like "Are we our bodies?," this reader, in a more direct way than other books, is relevant to students’ lives. This basic set of concerns, while not encompassing all subjects in the humanities, is a gateway for students. By reading difficult works with a specific set of questions in mind, students can learn how to tackle readings critically and begin to become familiar with the larger complex of questions and themes that make up the humanities.
Intriguing Selections, Broad Appeal
Compiled by an extremely diverse editorial team, Being Human is full of intriguing selections, like Mark Twain’s account of his daughter’s death or excerpts from Peter Pan evoking the simple magic of childhood. The variety of the selections reflects the variety of the council that selected them: leaders in law, ethics, medicine, public policy, psychology, and philosophy. The council chose readings that deal with the challenges they face in their disciplines, and they often found that great works from the past, the "classics," spoke most powerfully and eloquently about these issues.
Smart Pedagogical Tools Built into Every Reading
The book’s three major sections open with a two-page discussion that unifies the diverse documents to follow. For each of the ninety-five selections, the editor has written a two-part headnote that will aid professors immensely in their course planning. First, the headnote presents a concise summary of the excerpt, placing it in the context of the complete reading. Second, and perhaps most importantly, the headnote offers a series of questions that underscore the selection’s key issues. These pre-reading questions are unique to this volume and critical for a student grappling with profoundly fundamental issues.
Copyright © 2005, W. W. Norton & Company. All rights reserved.
XHTML, CSS, 508