The Power of Purpose begins with a simple but remarkable statement: “The more you focus on helping others, the more you will succeed in reaching your own goals.” Peter S. Temes builds on this fundamental insight to share a simple plan for living with the truest and most enduring kind of happiness. At the heart of The Power of Purpose are the “three levels of thinking.” At the first level, we ask, Who am I? and What do I want? At the second level, we ask, Who do other people think I am? How do I look to them? But the real magic happens when we hit the third level, forgetting about ourselves and asking the questions that lend a powerful sense of purpose to our lives: How do others look to themselves? How can I help others become the people they want to be? To help us along the way, Temes, who teaches humanities at Columbia University, draws on the wisdom of great thinkers including Aristotle, Søren Kierkegaard, and Abraham Lincoln; the life lessons of great achievers ranging from Mother Teresa to Michael Jordan; and home truths he’s gathered from his parents, his grandparents, and his three children. From all these sources and from his own life of great personal accomplishment, Temes identifies the essential knowledge that brings people happiness and success. He cites Aristotle’s notion that happiness is not a psychological state but a moral one, resulting from doing good in the world. Temes also believes in the pivotal importance of trust and team-building in every area of life, from the family to the workplace to the street corner. The Power of Purpose is a map for finding the confidence and power, the opportunities and occasions, and—most important—the techniques and strategies for centering your relationships and work on helping others. It is a book with a point of view: the clearest path to your own success and happiness lies in helping others get to where they want to go.

The Power of Purpose: Living Well by Doing Good

Self-Help

Temes, Peter S.

Success

Harmony

"We the People sets the stage for a new digital constitution. This book will both scare you and give you hope for the future" - Luke Mansfield, Harley-Davidson Chief Strategy Officer In April of 2018, leaders from a dozen large players in the digital economy, four universities, one Indian Tribal Nation, the U.S. government, and several large not-for-profit organizations gathered to craft a digital-ethics Declaration of Independence and Constitution. We the People sets the framework of ideas behind this groundbreaking effort and shares the working drafts of these key documents. The newly-organized Independent Digital Ethics Working Group now takes this framework to organizations around the world to expand the conversation about, and commitment to, reflective and humane standards for digital ethics in our emerging digital age. Leading humanist Peter Temes and leading technologist Florin Rotar have joined together to help lead this work and expand the digital-ethics conversation. "This book couldn't be more timely and relevant. In the age of 'big data' where so much is measurable, Peter and Florin provide an essential framework" - Steven Miller, Warby Parker CFO

We the People: Human Purpose in a Digital Age: A Guide to Digital Ethics for Individuals, Organizations and Robots of All Kinds

Politics & Social Sciences

Rotar, Florin

Philosophy

Insight Editions

Threatened by the love of would-be friends as well as the hatred of long-established enemies, the Jewish people face a number of critical questions about the future. What matters more: the number of Jewish people, or the qualities of the Jewish soul? Does asking, “Is it good for the Jews?” diminish the more profound question, “Is it good?” Should the Torah be seen as the unchanging anchor of faith or as a starting place for continual reinvention? Does Judaism hold within it a universal and inclusive ethic?
These questions take on more and more significance as Jewish neighborhoods continue to fade, as Jewish identity melts in the embrace of intermarriage, and as a new generation of American Jews seeks a universal moral vision in a religion built for a people who once stood apart.
Each of the five photographs in this book frames one of these critical questions, generating a dialogue that is as honest and practical as it is spiritual and philosophical. Drawing on history, literature, and his upbringing in the Jewish communities of Brooklyn, Peter S. Temes seeks a new understanding of what it means to be Jewish and what the future holds for the Jewish people. The five photographs at the center of his search hint at the possibilities of that future—possibilities that are at once hopeful and inspiring but also challenging and troubling.

The Future of the Jewish People in Five Photographs

History

World

University Of Nebraska Press

Lynn English High School is half black, half white; half urban, half small town. The students struggle to learn and to rise above the limits of their town, the racial stereotypes of 1990s New England, and the narrow-mindedness of some of their teachers. Other teachers at Lynn English are heroes, seeing more in their students, and in the significance of their own lives, than most could imagine. Though filled with problems - even a killing in the year this book spans - Lynn English is filled with hope. In both regards it is more typical of the American high school than any sunny suburban school can be today.

One School Now: Real Life at Lynn English High (Counterpoints)

Education & Teaching

Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers

In this authoritative book, Mr. Temes sets out a straightforward prescription for our schools which centers on the life of the individual teacher and rejects the billion-dollar school reform industry. The book celebrates the power of individual teachers to make a difference in their schools and communities, as forces for bottom-up change. A cogent and stylish writer who brings zestful insights to his subject. Urgent reading. —Daniel Asa Rose, Forward

Against School Reform (And in Praise of Great Teaching)

Schools & Teaching

Ivan R. Dee

In the midst of the continuing controversy over the right ways to bring change to American schools, Peter Temes's book is a firebell in the night. In Against School Reform Mr. Temes sets out a straightforward prescription for our schools which centers on the life of the individual teacher and rejects the billion-dollar school reform industry. He argues that enormous monies and millions of hours of effort have gone into reforming American schools in the past ten years, and we have precious little to show for it. As we enter a critical period in American history―a growing population, an uncompromising demand for well-educated workers, and the complexities of world politics impacting ordinary people every day―there is not more time or money to waste. In Mr. Temes's view, great teachers are the secret to making better schools. Forget the macro issues of school reform, he advises, and focus on recruiting, retaining, and supporting the very best teachers. Teaching will once again become an elite profession, and school problems will go the way of the trolley car. Against School Reform digs deep into the qualities of great teaching, with stories from real schools and with practical advice for parents, teachers, and students who want to celebrate and support great teachers. It also takes a serious look at what our schools must do to recruit and reward the best teachers in the coming era of teacher shortages. Finally, the book celebrates the power of individual teachers to make a difference in their schools and communities, as forces for bottom-up change. More tests won't fix our schools, Mr. Temes writes. Bigger, better ideas about education won't fix things either. But great teachers can fix our schools, one classroom at a time.

Against School Reform (And in Praise of Great Teaching): Getting Beyond Endless Testing, Regimentation, and Reform in Our Schools

"War," Peter Temes writes, "is always wrong but sometimes necessary." With that principle at its center, The Just War offers a critical history of Just War thinking, beginning with ancient epics and extending through American responses to the terrorist attacks of September 11. More than a challenging new appraisal of Just War's history, Mr. Temes's book proposes a radically new vision of Just War thinking, one that respects the received tradition but takes account of the moral experience of today's world. He sees the Gulf War, the turmoil of Yugoslavia, Israel's Occupied Territories, and questions about Iraq and the "war on terror" as moral challenges that cannot be easily resolved but must nevertheless be addressed. Looking closely at the history of Islam, the philosophy of Jihad, Christian thought, the experience of the Crusades, and the Hebrew Bible's teachings about war, he considers their lessons with our modern experience in mind. His clear descriptions of the writings of European thinkers on war, including Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel, are focused on the meanings these ideas must have for us today. And Mr. Temes speaks directly to the central moral questions about war, arriving at the core principles of a Just War philosophy for our time: that it acknowledges the preciousness and value of all human life; that it is a war about the future and not about the past; and that it strengthens the rights of individuals.

The Just War: An American Reflection on the Morality of War in Our Time

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