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How to Think Like a Philosopher

Essential Principles for Clearer Thinking

Julian Baggini author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Granta Books

Published:23rd Feb '23

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How to Think Like a Philosopher cover

The key principles for a more humane and balanced approach to thinking, to politics and to life, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of How the World Thinks.

The Sunday Times bestselling author of How the World Thinks shares his twelve key principles for a more humane and balanced approach to thinking in this vital new book. -- Pay attention. As politics slides toward impulsivity, and outrage bests rationality, how can philosophy help us critically engage with real world problems? Question everything. Drawing on decades of work in philosophy including a huge range of interviews with contemporary philosophers, Julian Baggini sets out how philosophical thought can promote incisive thinking. Introducing everyday examples and contemporary political concerns - from climate change to implicit bias - How to Think Like a Philosopher is a revelatory exploration of the techniques, methods and principles that guide philosophy, and how they can be applied to our own lives. Seek clarity, not certainty. Covering canonical philosophers and focal movements, as well as introducing new voices in contemporary philosophy, this is both a short history of philosophy and an accessible, practical guide to good thinking. Through twelve key principles, Julian Baggini outlines a pathway to a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking, to politics, and to life.

In lively and engaging prose, the book distills some of history's most important philosophical ideas... An important book * Herald *
A complete treat: a big breath of fresh air and a bracing detox for our beleaguered, battered brains -- Derren Brown
[An] excellent and often witty primer on the art, or aspiration, of thinking clearly and logically and ethically * Irish Times *
If more philosophers wrote with the power and elegance Julian Baggini achieves in this book, more of us would learn to think like them. Well, now we can! -- Richard Holloway
Baggini is an engaging writer and his arguments are ornamented with references to popular culture and current affairs, scraps of intellectual history and a range of relatable personal experiences * TLS *
A welcome balm. Julian Baggini writes with clarity and humour. And most importantly, he doesn't get bogged down in theory but offers practical instructions on how to think and question, more constructively -- Ritula Shah
A guide to slowing down, living better and thinking * Idler *
An urgently needed guide to clear thinking, brought to life by a cast of our finest philosophers and illuminated by his gentle, humane, and accessible writing. Essential reading, both for making sense of a confusing world, and for living your everyday life. I'll be returning to this brilliant book again and again -- Anil Seth
Another brilliant, engaging and highly readable account by Julian Baggini aimed at that most difficult of tasks - helping us all to think, and encouraging us to find the right answers by asking the right questions. Simply superb -- Gavin Esler

ISBN: 9781783788514

Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 22mm

Weight: 428g

320 pages