Metaphysicians and cosmologists often make bold, surprising claims about the universe. It is bigger, older, full of more things, more intricately interconnected, than most of us ever thought. Supposing they are correct, does that have any bearing on what we ought to believe about everyday matters, and on what we ought to feel, want, and do in everyday contexts? Many philosophers have been explicitly or implicitly committed to answering 'no' to this question. In Living in a Strange Worl...

Caspar Hare makes an original and compelling case for "egocentric presentism," a view about the nature of first-person experience, about what happens when we see things from our own particular point of view. A natural thought about our first-person experience is that "all and only the things of which I am aware are present to me." Hare, however, goes one step further and claims, counterintuitively, that the thought should instead be that "all and only the things of which I am aware are pre...

This guide outlines concepts and principles of philosophy in an easy to understand format. Topics covered in this guide include: metaphysics, mind body problems, language games and much more.

A landmark book in the debate over free will that makes the case for compatibilism.In this landmark 1984 work on free will, Daniel Dennett makes a case for compatibilism. His aim, as he writes in the preface to this new edition, was a cleanup job, “saving everything that mattered about the everyday concept of free will, while jettisoning the impediments.” In Elbow Room, Dennett argues that the varieties of free will worth wanting—those that underwrite mora...

This book concentrates on argumentation as it emerges in ordinary discourse, whether the discourse is institutionalized or strictly informal. Crucial concepts from the theory of argumentation are systematically discussed and explained with the help of examples from real-life discourse and texts. The basic principles are explained that are instrumental in the analysis and evaluation of argumentative discourse. Methodical instruments are offered for identifying differences of opinion, analyz...

What are philosophers trying to achieve? How can they succeed? Does philosophy make progress? Is it in competition with science, or doing something completely different, or neither? Timothy Williamson tackles some of the key questions surrounding philosophy in new and provocative ways, showing how philosophy begins in common sense curiosity, and develops through our capacity to dispute rationally with each other. Discussing philosophy's ability to clarify our thoughts, he explains why such...

Our self-conception derives mostly from our own experience. We believe ourselves to be conscious, rational, social, ethical, language-using, political agents who possess free will. Yet we know we exist in a universe that consists of mindless, meaningless, unfree, nonrational, brute physical particles. How can we resolve the conflict between these two visions?In Freedom and Neurobiology, the philosopher John Searle discusses the possibility of free will within the context o...

The Critical Thinking Toolkit is a comprehensive compendium that equips readers with the essential knowledge and methods for clear, analytical, logical thinking and critique in a range of scholarly contexts and everyday situations.Takes an expansive approach to critical thinking by exploring concepts from other disciplines, including evidence and justification from philosophy, cognitive biases and errors from psychology, race and gender from sociology and political s...

Critical Reasoning & Philosophy has been praised as an innovative and clearly written handbook that teaches new philosophy students how to read, evaluate, and write in a critical manner. Concise, accessible language and ample use of examples and study modules help students gain the basic knowledge necessary to succeed in undergraduate philosophy courses, and to apply that knowledge to achieve success in other disciplines as well. With a reorganized presentation, fresh modules, new...

An investigation of the “occurrent arts” through the concepts of the “semblance” and “lived abstraction.”Events are always passing; to experience an event is to experience the passing. But how do we perceive an experience that encompasses the just-was and the is-about-to-be as much as what is actually present? In Semblance and Event, Brian Massumi, drawing on the work of William James, Alfred North Whitehead, Gilles Deleuze, and others, develops the concep...

Raymond Tallis is a renowned polymath: he was listed by the Independent in 2007 as one of fifty 'Brains of Britain' and in 2004 Prospect magazine voted him one of Britain's top public intellectual.In this startlingly original and persuasive book, Raymond Tallis shows that it is easy to underestimate the influence of small things in determining what manner of creatures humans are. He reveals that over time the repeated and multiple effects of the s...

Why sexuality is at the point of a “short circuit” between ontology and epistemology.Consider sublimation—conventionally understood as a substitute satisfaction for missing sexual satisfaction. But what if, as Lacan claims, we can get exactly the same satisfaction that we get from sex from talking (or writing, painting, praying, or other activities)? The point is not to explain the satisfaction from talking by pointing to its sexual origin, but that the satisfactio...