Showing results by narrator "Scott R. Smith" in All Categories

What is the nature of benevolence toward other people? How does it differ from altruism? Is it a major or minor virtue? How does it relate to the benevolent sense of life? David Kelley answers these questions in a groundbreaking work. Unrugged Individualism is the first philosophical analysis of benevolence from the Objectivist point of view, a major addition to the Objectivist ethics, and a convincing demonstration of the fertility of the system of ideas originated by Ayn Rand.

Less than a week before Christmas, Columbus Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner receive a call from dispatch. The body of a young woman has been found floating in the Olentangy River, her teeth forcibly removed, her fingerprints obliterated, any chance at a positive identification residing only within the string of inexplicable tattoos inked across the bottom of her feet.

Meghan, my little love. She is my son’s young girlfriend and my ex-best friend’s daughter. She came to my home with Ethan for a visit. Nineteen, untouched, angelic, and wanting. The moment I saw her, I wanted her. I needed to make a thrusting appearance deep inside her untouched walls.

For the past two months, Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner Billie were in limbo. Victims of their own success, they were plucked from their posts on the graveyard shift at the Eighth Precinct and thrust into a newly created role working with the governor’s office when a young woman is shot down outside her front door. Immediately written off by some in the small town as nothing more than a tragic hunting accident; closer examination proves it to not just be a murder, but an execution.

If you would like to get into a positive, faithful mind-set in this time of global fear, this is the most important book you will hear. The methods shared within have worked great for me and allowed my life to unfold without stress or worry. But I’m not suggesting that everyone who listens to this book is going to become calm or anxiety-free, as I don’t know how committed to creating a better life the people who listen to this are.

Ayn Rand’s novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged gave birth to a movement based on her philosophy of objectivism. In The Contested Legacy of Ayn Rand, philosopher David Kelley explains why he broke ranks with orthodox objectivists and created an independent branch of the movement. Originally published in 1990 as a manifesto, the work has been revised as an analysis of the principles of the intellectual collaboration, toleration, and responsibility. It is an engaging introduction to the objectivist movement, its core ideas, and its central fissures.

Seven Mountains to Aratta by B.J. Corbin provides evidence that supports Alvand Mountain in Iran as the possible landing site for Noah's Ark. According to Corbin, Alvand Mountain meets the criteria for both the biblical mountains of Ararat and the mythological Aratta mentioned in Sumerian texts. B.J. Corbin has over 30 years experience searching for Noah's Ark and has participated in four expeditions to Mount Ararat in Turkey.

This essay discusses the essentials of Rand's ethics and its crucial relevance to America's intellectual, moral, and political crisis. There are overtones applicable to America. It serves as an excellent commentary on the historical and cultural significance of her ethics and the view of man as a moral ideal.

There is simply no value put on words. Words, however, are the reason that one person lives a life of abundance while another person lives a life of lack. In this book, I want to share with you the correct way to harness the power of your words, so instead of holding you back, they propel you towards the life that you desire - the life that you were destined to live.

Relationships with toxic people can be detrimental to your well-being, and you have to be proactive to ensure that you know what to do with the toxic people in your life. Change the way you think, and learn how to manage stressful situations with difficult people with the help of this guide.

Detective Roese looked up, a strand of lank hair hanging across her face. Blood staining her bare hands and forearms, she kept her weight pitched forward, pressing down on the sucking chest wound, fighting desperately to prevent another tally on the list of recently deceased. “You can’t go out there. Best case, you never find him in the middle of all this. Worst, it’s a trap". Outcomes Reed had already considered and dismissed, his faith placed in the inky black K-9 partner by his side. “Even a ghost leaves a scent".

Homecoming is a steamy BDSM romance. Lucas Hudson has six weeks remaining before leaving his small town for college, but first, he must adjust to the return of his new stepbrother, Dane Bolton, from the Marine Corps. Although initially reluctant about the return of the local hero and former football jock, who had been three years ahead of him in high school, Lucas develops an instant crush on his new roommate.

In the peace following the Great Mage Hunt, the king's long-time mistress is revealed as a sorceress. Locked away for the safety of the kingdom, bounties are placed upon the heads of the seven children she birthed. Mage hunters have scoured the kingdom for four years, searching for the seven scattered mage-born bastards.

Six months have passed since the first murder investigation Detective Reed Mattox and his K-9 partner worked together, finding them in the throes of a steamy Midwestern summer, dealing with the usual increase in low-level crime that the hottest months tend to bring, when something unexpected happens. A body is found, and then another, and soon Reed and Billie are on the trail of a potential serial killer whose only pattern for his crimes seems to be no pattern at all. Battling against the heat and the clock, the K-9 team must sort through the crimes to identify a common thread that ties them all together. If they can, they may be able to stop the murders.

“Six quarts is way more than necessary for something like that,” Reed said. “It’s not just overkill...” Letting his voice trail off, he blinked several times, bringing himself back into the moment with the realization that it was a statement. Of what, he had not a clue.

In the peace following the Great Mage Hunt, the king’s long-time mistress is revealed as a sorceress. Locked away for the safety of the kingdom, bounties are placed upon the heads of the seven children she birthed. Before they can be found by the kingdom’s mage hunters, the seven turn to in-fighting and murder, stealing each other’s magics to grow stronger. After the battle on the stone plains, only three of the mage-born bastards remain alive.

Alone on the couch one night, Reed and his partner are both summoned to the hospital to find two of their colleagues have been viciously attacked, left for dead on the side of the road with very little evidence to go on. With emotions high and the entire department vowing revenge, Captain Grimes assigns the case to Reed and Billie, offering them any resources available in finding the culprit. What at first seemed just an isolated incident soon begins to spiral as more bodies are found.

In this Pocket Guide to Postmodernism, author Andrew Colgan, PhD, explores the fundamental premises and ideas of postmodernism by summarizing and interpreting Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault by Stephen Hicks, PhD. In his discussion of the philosophical foundations of this intellectual movement, Colgan presents a concise guide into the views of one of the most influential schools of the 20th century and its real-life consequences.

Do you feel lonely even when you are with people? When we are alone and isolated, many of us think we will feel better once we surround ourselves with friends, family, or a romantic partner. We are constantly looking for someone else to complete us, accompany us, and give us love and attention. But instead of feeling less lonely, we often end up feeling empty and disappointed.

Contemporary views of business ethics often show businessmen and women in a bad light. Egoism, profits, and competition are branded as immoral, while social consciousness is praised. Atlas Society Senior Scholar Stephen Hicks, PhD, disagrees with this point of view. Most contemporary business ethics does business a disservice. Worse than that, its proposed cures are plagued with unintended consequences that are often much worse than the problems it is attempting to solve. Hicks defends the egoism that drives successful business people and the morality of free-market capitalism.