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Mike's Non Fiction Booktalk

 * AUTHOR:** Charles Taylor


 * TITLE:** A Secular Age


 * PUBLICATION DATE:** 2007


 * NUMBER OF PAGES:** 874


 * GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING:** Western Europe and North America


 * TIME PERIOD:** 17th Century - Present


 * PLOT SUMMARY:** Taylor traces the evolution of secularism from the 17th century to the present era and argues that we live in a uniquely secular age in human history. Public space, Taylor argues, has been largely "emptied of God". Even in the United States, where there are a large number of religious adherents, there is a secularism which did not exist in earlier ages. That is, we exist in the only time where the existence of God does not go unchallenged or is unproblematic. Never before have we experienced so many alternatives to Christianity and faith generally. Such options fundamentally change our understanding of what it is to believe and presents new challenges for modern society. Modern life lacks the transcendental meaning of earlier ages. Therefore we moderns suffer a //malaise of immanence// whereby we struggle to attach significance to actions or life decisions.


 * SUBJECT HEADINGS:** modernity, secularism, philosophy, religion & culture


 * SIMILAR AUTHORS:** Alistair MacIntyre, David Martin, Martha Nussbaum


 * APPEAL**:A seminal work from one of Canada's most influential political philosophers of all time. The book, in many ways is a summation of his life's work and is a uniquely comprehensive history of secularism in Western society.


 * AUTHOR**: Janice Gross Stein
 * TITLE**: The Cult of Efficiency


 * BRIEF SUMMARY:** We live in a world obsessed with efficiency. Notions of efficiency and the discourse of the free market have penetrated every aspect of public life. Certainly, the concept of efficiency is necessary, but governments and individuals must remember to question //efficient for whom// and //efficient at what//. Public sector obsession with efficiency, particularly in the sectors of health and public education, often neglect to ask these important questions. Efficiency was never meant to be an end in itself, a value above all values. Efficiency is a means to an end, but when it is an end in itself efficiency becomes a cult.


 * AUTHOR**: Conrad Schmidt
 * TITLE**: Workers of the World Relax: The Simple Economics of Less Industrial Work


 * BRIEF SUMMARY:** A manifesto of the Work Less Party, Schmidt's collection of essays details how hyper-consumerism is necessary to economic growth. He points out that the planet will not sustain a continually expanding industrial economy and argues that the only way to save the planet shrink the global economy. By introducing a four day work week, we would produce less, consume less and have the time to work on the things that truly enhance our quality of life, such as staying healthy, taking care of one another and pursuing our passions.