Enhanced Beauty

Growing up in Singapore in the 80s has been challenging. I didn't know much about life or economy. I didn't know what I want to do apart from playing. I know I had to study and get a job. In school we had to write composition about our profession when we grow up. I had never wanted to be a philosopher, let alone writing about social philosophy. It is just that growing up with a single parent is tough. It is tougher when she is uneducated and I had to learn most things by myself. After my National Service, I decided to further studies. That was when I was exposed to philosophy and psychology in the UK. After graduation in 1999 with a degree in Electronics, I came back home to resume my National Service (I disrupt it and had about 2 months left). The life in UK exposed me to something that I did not notice when growing up in Singapore. I find local social scene unsatisfactory. They are Confucians, Muslims, Christians, freethinkers and humanists. Most time, they are preoccupied with how to earn more money. Religion does not give me the fulfillment that it promised. In addition, most were based on Singaporeans' interpretation of the Bible and Buddhism's dharma. Most times, I feel that everything that Singaporeans do has got to do with wealth creation or at least with the expenditure of it. It end up like what Pope Francis referred to as "the cult of money." Organised religion involves more fear-mongering than cultivating an inner grace and peace. Hence this book is about how I relate an ancient thinker's ethics (Aristotle) to the present day. I find Aristotle's ethics to most suit my needs as a man and lover. It does not pretend to be more than what it seek, the golden mean. It does require us to think and explore the values to find balance and achieve wisdom with intellectual and moral virtues. I also find other philosophers (French or not) particularly insightful and thought-provoking. They offer me explanation and exploration on subjects like love, sex, and death. Freudian psychoanalysis are also very penetrating in their findings and insights. Moreover, I needed some contemporary psychological theory, not in-depth psychoanalysis, to back Aristotle's model of ethics (intellectual and moral virtues). Hence the psychological background of my book. I got acquainted with these psychological theories when I was preparing myself to be a financial consultant. I later found out more about them and they became useful in my work and life. Hence I would like to share it with people in Asia so that they can ask the right kind of questions in life in order to learn more about themselves and the social milieu they are living in. Because everyone of us are affected by the social sciences (politics, economics and sociology). This book will, I hope, allow us to understand why we are irrational and how we can make rational changes through reasonings in their life and achieving eudaimonia. My wish is simply to share what I enjoy doing, apart from creating useful ideas to improve the world. Through my book, I hope to make others understand religion, science and philosophy and how they play an increasingly integral part in the Asian century.

Female beauty systems everywhere are complex, integrating markers of class, status, power, and sexuality to perform the fundamental function of sorting individuals into categories of “more” or “less” desirable. Heirs to the tradition of courtly love, modern western female beauty systems tend to share the norm of man as pursuer, woman as pursued, having developed around the trope of the madly-desiring poet or knight supplicating his aloof and lovely lady for her favor. The apparent longevity of the courtly love tradition raises the question of whether the way in which it structures male desire in reaction to female beauty is part of a “universal” tendency, an evolutionary adaptation, despite clear evidence that female beauty systems are also, in fact, socially constructed, and reflect enormous ambivalence about the power and performance of beauty. Although modern western female beauty systems are routinely demystified and contested today, the purveyors of culture that support them—institutional, intellectual, artistic, commercial, and popular—continue as they always have to construe women as objects of male desire. Still, within this basic structure, the systems have varied greatly across time and space, with women using beauty as a form of social capital in widely differing ways. Moreover, as individuals have begun to experience their bodies as malleable and endlessly transformable, rather than unruly and unyielding, many have begun to experience beauty less as a given and more as a project. The nine essays collected here examine a number of different Western female beauty systems over the centuries, considering how women have complied with, contributed to, profited or suffered from, and resisted them.

The book is about how to do your makeup and what color of makeup best fits your skin.

This simple and fun book is a do-it-yourself coloured cosmetics manual. it contains basic information, formulations and instructions that will guide you to produce your very own line of organic customized coloured cosmetics from the scratch. The final products will beautify you as well as deliver lots of wholesome benefits to your skin.

The practices of beauty -- A market for beauty -- Advertising beauty -- Maligning beauty -- Domesticating beauty -- Selling natural artifice -- Selling the orient -- Selling masculinity.

What sets "Radiance from Within" apart is its emphasis on the holistic integration of mind, body, and spirit. It recognizes that true well-being is not achieved through isolated efforts but rather through a synergistic approach that addresses the interconnected nature of human existence. The book acts as a guiding light, steering readers away from quick fixes and fad diets toward a sustainable and nourishing lifestyle that promotes long-term health and radiance. Moreover, the book extends its reach into the realm of spiritual wellness, recognizing the profound impact that a sense of purpose and connection can have on overall well-being. It encourages readers to explore practices that resonate with their spiritual inclinations, fostering a deeper understanding of self and the world around them. Through engaging narratives, practical tips, and insightful reflections, "Radiance from Within" becomes not just a guide but a companion on the journey to holistic wellness. It inspires readers to cultivate habits that support their individual growth and illuminate the path to a life filled with vitality, joy, and a radiant glow from within.

Drawing from sources including the ethology of art and the cognitive science of religion this book proposes an improved understanding of both art and religion as behaviors developed in the process of human evolution. Looking at both art and religion as closely related, but not identical, behaviors a more coherent definition of religion can be formed that avoids pitfalls such as the Eurocentric characterization of religion as belief or the dismissal of the category as nothing more than false belief or the product of scholarly invention. The book integrates highly relevant insights from the ethology and anthropology of art, particularly the identification of "the special" by Ellen Dissanayake and art as agency by Alfred Gell, with insights from, among others, Ann Taves, who similarly identified "specialness" as characteristic of religion. It integrates these insights into a useful and accurate understanding and explanation of the relationship of art and religion and of religion as a human behavior. This in turn is used to suggest how art can contribute to the development and maintenance of religions. The innovative combination of art, science, and religion in this book makes it a vital resource for scholars of Religion and the Arts, Aesthetics, Religious Studies, Religion and Science and Religious Anthropology.

The doctrine of deification or theosis is typically associated with the Eastern Orthodox tradition. Indeed, the language of participation in the divine nature as a way to understand salvation often sounds like strange music in the ears of Western Christians despite passages like 2 Peter 1:4 where it appears. However, recent scholarship has argued that the theologies of some of the most prominent figures in the history of the Western church, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Wesley, share more in common with deification than has been acknowledged. In this New Explorations in Theology volume, theologian James Salladin considers the role of deification in the theology of another well-known Western theologian: Jonathan Edwards. In addition, he reflects upon the question of how Edwards's soteriology compares with the rest of the broader Reformed tradition. Here, we discover how Edwards's theology affirms what it means for sinners to be brought into the hands of a loving God. Featuring new monographs with cutting-edge research, New Explorations in Theology provides a platform for constructive, creative work in the areas of systematic, historical, philosophical, biblical, and practical theology.