Showing results by author "Julian Baggini" in All Categories

In How the World Thinks, Julian Baggini travels the globe to provide a hugely wide-ranging map of human thought. He shows us how distinct branches of philosophy flowered simultaneously in China, India and Ancient Greece, growing from local myths and stories - and how contemporary cultural attitudes, with particular attention to the West, East Asia, the Muslim World and Africa, have developed out of the philosophical histories of their regions. 

Ever felt as though life would be simpler if it came with an instruction manual? There are no easy answers to the big questions. And life does not follow a straight path from A to B. Since the beginning of time, people have asked questions about how they should live and, from Ancient Greece to Japan, philosophers have attempted to solve these questions for us. The timeless wisdom that they offer can help us to find our own path. 

From the Sunday Times best-selling author of How the World Thinks, The Godless Gospel asks: do Jesus' teachings add up to a coherent moral system, still relevant today? Even if we don't believe that Jesus was the son of God, we tend to think he was a great moral teacher. But was he? And how closely do idealised values such as our love of the family, helping the needy and the importance of kindness match Jesus' original tenets?

David Hume (1711-1776) is perhaps best known for his ideas about cause and effect and his criticisms of religion, but he is rarely thought of as a philosopher with practical wisdom to offer. Yet Hume's philosophy is grounded in an honest assessment of nature - human nature in particular. The Great Guide is an engaging and eye-opening account of how Hume's thought should serve as the basis for a complete approach to life. Julian Baggini masterfully interweaves biography with intellectual history and philosophy to give us a complete vision of Hume's guide to life.

Is it right to eat a pig that wants to be eaten...? Thought experiments are short scenarios that pose a moral or philosophical problem in a vivid and concrete way. In this book Julian Baggini presents 100 of the most intriguing thought experiments from the history of philosophy and ideas.

Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief which is characterized by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral. It also confronts the failure of officially atheist states in the 20th century. The book presents an intellectual case for atheism that rests as much upon positive arguments for its truth as on negative arguments against religion. 

Do we have free will? It's a question that has puzzled philosophers and theologians for centuries and feeds into numerous political, social, and personal concerns. Are we products of our culture or free agents within it? How much responsibility should we take for our actions? Are our neural pathways fixed early on by a mixture of nature and nurture, or is the possibility of comprehensive, intentional psychological change always open to us?

For all those sick of politicians and their slick spin, or bored of broadcasters who bombard and bully their hapless interviewees, Do They Think You’re Stupid? has the answers. Written by the author of the best-selling The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, these short, stimulating capsules of philosophy cut through the woolliest of rhetoric to identify the faulty reasoning and argumentative strategies that are used around us every day.

How we eat, farm and shop for food is not only a matter of taste. Our choices regarding what we eat involve every essential aspect of our human nature: the animal, the sensuous, the social, the cultural, the creative, the emotional and the intellectual. Thinking seriously about food requires us to consider our relationship to nature, to our fellow animals, to each other and to ourselves. So can thinking about food teach us about being virtuous, and can what we eat help us to decide how to live?

Another rapid-fire selection of short, stimulating and entertaining capsules of philosophy from the master of the genre. This time Baggini applies his philosophical scalpel to famous sayings, proverbs and pieces of homespun wisdom. Should you really do as the Romans do when in Rome and practice what you preach? Is the grass always in fact greener on the other side of the fence, and is there ever smoke without fire? Is beauty always in the eye of the beholder and is it actually better to be safe than sorry?

All major social advances have started with a complaint. Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela each brought about changes by beginning with a complaint that the status quo was wrong and needed to change. It's time to reclaim complaint as a progressive, positive force again, and this book explores every kind of complaint that people make.