Being Human: Core Reading in the Humanities

By: Kass, Leon

Book Overview

The Norton Edition of this widely praised collection brings the best writings in the humanities to a college audience. Each chapter presents a question or topic central to the human experience, among them "The Search for Perfection," "Are We Our Bodies?," "Vulnerability and Suffering," and "Human Dignity." To guide students as they read these influential works, every selection is prefaced by a concise headnote and thoughtful discussion questions.

How shall we promote and protect human flourishing in a world of ever-emerging technologies? At what point should we limit our quest for physical and mental perfection? Drawing on the insights of great thinkers throughout the ages, Being Human: Core Readings in the Humanities can help give readers a solid understanding of what it means to be human, both in the past and into the future. College courses, from Humanities to Bioethics to Freshman Composition, will benefit from this important collection.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393926397
• ISBN13: 9780393926392
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 1.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Great Classroom Tool

I use this book as a textbook for a philosophy class and a general humanities class. It is neatly organized and the readings are manageable. This is not a book I would read cover-to-cover, although you certainly could. The book is organized around three core sections and then subdivided into more specific themes. The main sections are Natural Imperfection and Human Longing, The Human Being and the Life Cycle, and Living Well. There is a great cross section of literature including, poetry, short stories, essays, and excerpts from novels and plays such as War and Peace, King Lear, Buddenbrooks, Anna Karenina, Peter Pan and Tuck Everlasting. Each selection is preceeded by commentary and study questions by the editor, Dr. Leon Kass. The book was put together by a committee of doctors appointed by President GW Bush and focuses on biomedical ethical questions. It would be useful for any medical student or anyone interested in exploring just what being a human being means.

Read this Book

Everyone interested in the philosophy of science, psychology, or what it means to be human should read this book. Written to guide the President's Council on Bioethics through the intense ethical dilemmas presented by biotechnology, from life-extension to genetic enhancement, these excerpts of literature were selected to provide material for reflection and guidance for those who will have the power to change what it means to be human.