Julian Baggini

"Philosopher Julian Baggini set out on a quest to discover what the English really think. Not content to rely solely on opinion polls and official surveys, he spent six months in S66, the most typical postcode area in the country." "Living in a semi in Everytown by the junction of a dual carriageway, he starts drinking in his local and makes new friends. The Sun and the Daily Mail become his source of news while Radio Two plays in the background. And he begins to explore people's beliefs, their hopes and fears." "He finds meaning in unlikely places, such as the race course, Indian takeaways, and nightclubs packed with binge-drinkers. He encounters men who are men, women who are women, and children with no idea what they are supposed to be." "His account of his stay in Everytown provides an eye-opening and entertaining look at what it is to be English. It also takes Baggini on an unexpected personal journey of discovery which makes him see his own country through new eyes."--BOOK JACKET.

Explore the gray areas in your gray matter—philosophical brainteasers from the bestselling author of The Pig That Wants to Be EatenIs your brain ready for a thorough philosophical health check?The author of the international bestseller The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten and his fellow founding editor of The Philosopher's Magazine have some thought-provoking questions about your thinking: Is what you believe coherent and consistent—or a jumble of contradictions? If you could design a God, what would He, She, or It be like? And how will you fare on the tricky terrain of ethics when your taboos are under the spotlight?Here are a dozen philosophical quizzes guaranteed to make armchair philosophers uncomfortably shift in their seats. The answers will reveal what you really think—and it may not be what you thought. Fun, challenging, and surprising, this book will enable you to discover the you you never knew you were.

From the author of the hugely entertaining(Publishers Weekly) The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, lessons in debunking the faulty arguments we hear every dayThis latest book from the pop philosophy author of The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten tackles an endlessly fascinating area of popular debatethe faulty argument. Julian Baggini provides a rapid-fire selection of short, stimulating, and entertaining quotes from a wide range of famous people in politics, the media, and entertainment, including Donald Rumsfeld, Emma Thompson, Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, and Chris Martin. Each entry takes as its starting point an example of highly questionablethough oddly persuasivereasoning from a broad variety of subjects. As Baggini teases out the logic in the illogical, armchair philosophers and aficionados of the absurd will find themselves nodding their heads as they laugh out loud. The Duck That Won the Lottery is perfect fodder for any cocktail party and pure pleasure for anyone who loves a good brain twister.

Both entertaining and startling, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten offers one hundred philosophical puzzles that stimulate thought on a host of moral, social, and personal dilemmas. Taking examples from sources as diverse as Plato and Steven Spielberg, author Julian Baggini presents abstract philosophical issues in concrete terms, suggesting possible solutions while encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions:Lively, clever, and thought-provoking, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten is a portable feast for the mind that is sure to satisfy any intellectual appetite. BACKCOVER: “Thinking again is what this taut, incisive, bullet-hard book is dedicated to promoting.”—The Sunday Times (London)“This book is like the Sudoku of moral philosophy: apply your mind to any of its ‘thought experiments’ while stuck on the Tube, and quickly be transported out of rush-hour hell.”—New Statesman