most ethical debate sidesteps any "prior clarification of the purpose of human life on the earth." Schumacher believes that ethics is the study of divergent problems; which require transcendence by the individual, not a new type of ethics to be adopted by all. He argues that there is an increasing recognition among individuals that many solutions to human problems must be made by individuals not by society, and cannot be solved by political solutions that rearrange the system. For Schumacher, the "modern attempt to live without religion has failed." He says that the tasks of an individual can be summed up as follows: Learn from society and tradition. Interiorize this knowledge, learn to think for yourself and become self-directed. Grow beyond the narrow concerns of the ego. Humanity, he says, in the larger sense must learn again to subordinate the sciences of manipulation to the sciences of wisdom; a theme he further develops in his book Small Is Beautiful. Reviews The reviews of this book include: America v. 138 (February 11, 1978). Best Sellers v. 37 (December 1977). Choice v. 15 (September 1978). The Christian Century v. 94 (October 12, 1977). The Christian Science Monitor (Eastern edition) (September 28, 1977). Commonweal v. 105 (April 14, 1978). Critic v. 36 (spring 1978). The Economist v. 265 (October 1, 1977). Library Journal (1876) v. 102 (October 1, 1977). The New York Times Book Review (October 2, 1977). New Statesman (London, England: 1957) v. 94 (October 7, 1977). Footnotes References Schumacher, E.F. (1977). A Guide for the Perplexed. (; paperback, ). (Chapter 2) 1977 non-fiction books Philosophy books Cognitive science literature ja:エルンスト・フリードリッヒ・シューマッハー