A biblical framework for understanding mental illness and helping the mentally ill. Synthesises the relevant biblical material with our scientific understanding of mental illness.Equips the reader to deal wisely, intelligently and compassionately with issues of mental health in churches and the community. Helps us discern between bad behaviour which is a result of illness and that which results from sin- How do we deal wisely, intelligently and compassionat...

This Element surveys the main claims of Bernard Williams's ethical philosophy. Topics include ethical scepticism, virtue, reasons for action, the critique of the Morality System, moral realism and the nature of theorising in ethics.

The Death of Laurence Vining is a remarkable entry in the golden age of detective fiction. Written by Alan Thomas, this novel is celebrated for its ingenious locked-room puzzle and its dark, atmospheric tension. With a setting that moves between bustling London streets and the shadowy interiors of private institutions, the book offers both classic detection and psychological depth. The mystery begins with the brutal and seemingly impossible murder of the brilliant but widely disliked Laure...

In the first systematic study of the philosophy of Thomas Nagel, Alan Thomas discusses Nagel's contrast between the "subjective" and the "objective" points of view throughout the various areas of his wide ranging philosophy. Nagel's original and distinctive contrast between the subjective view and our aspiration to a "view from nowhere" within metaphysics structures the chapters of the book. A "new Humean" in epistemology, Nagel takes philosophical scepticism to be both irrefutable and yet...

Wealthy businessman Dimitry Yablonsky finds it unbearable to witness his beloved father's descent into old age. So he decides to award a prize of $100 million to anyone who can find a way of halting the human ageing process.Dr Jonathan Palmer, a brilliant Cambridge scientist, aims to do just that. Despite the opposition of his deeply-religious wife, his colleagues and the Law, he is determined to let nothing stand between him and the ultimate prize in science.But Palmer's wor...

Everyone dreams of being a hero. Vaclyner is no different. Left orphaned when his father disappeared and his mother died a few years later, he longs to distinguish himself, even to the point of making up stories about foes he has vanquished while hunting in the woods. His guardian, Fragiir, warns him that the world is full of creatures and people with magical powers that might actually threaten their village. When Vaclyner meets a mysterious old man in the forest around his home, he accept...

The first book length study of property-owning democracy, Republic of Equals argues that a society in which capital is universally accessible to all citizens is uniquely placed to meet the demands of justice. Arguing from a basis in liberal-republican principles, this expanded conception of the economic structure of society contextualizes the market to make its transactions fair. The author shows that a property-owning democracy structures economic incentives such that the dominat...

Alan Thomas presents an original study of the status of value and its relation to the contexts in which evaluative claims are justified. He articulates and defends the view that human beings do possess moral and political knowledge, but that it is historically and culturally contextual knowledge in ways that, say, mathematical or chemical knowledge is not. His exposition of a 'cognitivist contextualism' in ethics and politics builds upon contemporary work in epistemology, moral philosophy,...

This story takes place in 2143, in the aftermath of wars, plagues, and environmental breakdown. A technocrat world government works closely with Raina, an advanced artificial intelligence whose purpose is to recreate the Earthly paradise.Dom Tessier is a cadet at Vancouver's Space Training Academy. Brain implants have enhanced his memory, and speeded up his learning processes. In another year he's to be fully telepathic, and work off-world as an administrator.. Lucas, the ben...

First published in 1978. In this title, Alan Thomas examines the invention of photography in the early nineteenth century. How the members of this first "visual" generation used photography and how it changed their perceptions of the world are the subjects of this lavishly illustrated book. As the author convincingly shows, the camera’s presence was felt nearly everywhere during the course of the nineteenth century. Approaching the subject topically, Thomas surveys the work of the early ph...

Envy is a vicious and shameful response to the good fortune of others, one that ruins friendships and plagues societies—or so the common thinking goes, shaped by millennia of religious and cultural condemnation. Envy’s bad reputation is not completely unwarranted; envy can indeed motivate malicious and counterproductive behavior and may strain or even tear apart relations between people. However, that is not always the case. Investigating the complex nature of this emotion reveals that it ...

In Extravagance and Misery: The Emotional Regime of Market Societies, Alan Thomas, Alfred Archer, and Bart Engelen investigate the extensive and growing economic inequalities that characterize the affluent market societies of the West. Drawing on insights from political philosophy and the new science of happiness, they show the damaging impact that existing inequalities have on our well-being, and offer an explanation for what went wrong in our highly unequal and frequently unhapp...