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Philosophy
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Birds, sex and beauty
In his new book, acclaimed science writer Matt Ridley looks to the peculiar mating rituals of birds to better understand the rich origins and ongoing significance of Darwin's sexual selection theory.'FASCINATING' The Times
£25.00
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Finding happiness
Discover wisdom from our greatest writers and philosophers, wisdom to help change the way you perceive and live your life.
£11.99
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The meaning of life
When James Bailey was feeling lost in life, he was inspired by philosopher Will Durant's 1930s project to write 100 luminaries from all walks of life, challenging them to respond to the fundamental question of life's meaning. The response was more remarkable than he could have ever imagined. A decade on, James had garnered an incredible collection of replies, collated here for the first time. By turns, thought-provoking, amusing and enlightening, these letters from scientists, writers, athletes, campaigners, politicians, entertainers, survivors and philosophers are a wonderful source of inspiration. Some are about happiness and heartbreak, some are about purpose, some are funny and some will change the way you think. 'The Meaning of Life' is a gift from these leaders, connecting through one question that broadens our understanding of what it really means to be human and happy.
£22.00
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The ideological brain
The human brain faces a set of dilemmas every day: how to achieve coherence from fragmented sensory inputs and how to attain connection with other people in an increasingly atomized and isolating world. Ideologies offer a shortcut, providing easy answers, scripts to follow, and a sense of shared identity. Whether our ideologies are far-right, far-left, nationalist, religious, or even progressive, they simplify our understanding and give us organizing frameworks through which to act and interact with others. But ideologies come at a cost: demanding conformity and suppressing individuality through rigid rules, repetitive rituals, and intolerance. Once ideologies grip our minds, they fundamentally transform us, making us less sensitive and adaptable. Drawing on her groundbreaking research, Dr Leor Zmigrod uncovers the hidden mechanisms driving our beliefs and behaviours.
£22.00
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Falling in love
Discover wisdom from our greatest writers and philosophers to help you tackle life's big questions.
£11.99
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Seven deadly sins
'Has the power to change the way you look at the world' Steven Bartlett'The heir to Oliver Sacks' David BaddielA FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2024AN INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE MONTHGluttony. Greed. Sloth. Pride. Envy. Lust. Anger.
£22.00
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Catastrophe ethics
From the small stuff like single-use plastics to major decisions like whether to have children, Rieder defines exactly how we can change our thinking and lead a decent, meaningful life in a scary, complicated world.
£10.99
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Limitarianism
We all notice when the poor get poorer: when there are more rough sleepers and food bank queues start to grow. But if the rich become richer, there is nothing much to see in public and, for most of us, daily life doesn't change. Or at least, not immediately. In this eye-opening intervention, philosopher and economist Ingrid Robeyns exposes the true extent of our wealth problem, which has spent the past 50 years silently spiralling out of control. In moral, political, economic, social, environmental and psychological terms, she shows, extreme wealth is not only unjustifiable but harmful to us all - the rich included. In place of our current system, Robeyns offers a breathtakingly clear alternative: limitarianism. The answer to so many of the problems posed by neoliberal capitalism - and the opportunity for a vastly better world - lies in placing a hard limit on the wealth that any one person can accumulate.
£12.99
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Uncivilised
Taking cues from Greek philosophy and honed in the Enlightenment, certain notions about humanity and human society grew into the tenets we live by, and we haven't questioned them a great deal since. But isn't it time we asked who really benefits from the values at the core of our society? How much truth lies in a science that conjured up 'race'? Who do laws and nations really protect? Why does it feel like time is money? What even is 'art'? And the real question - is the West really as 'civilised' as it thinks it is? This book will put everything back on the table and ask listeners to reconsider what they thought they knew about civilisation. Taking 10 core values of Western Civilisation in turn, it will examine the root of the idea, how it developed, and how it's impacted the way we live.
£10.99
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Who owns the moon?
A Defence of Our Intergalactic Common Interests
£10.99
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Equality
Equality is in crisis. Our world is filled with soaring inequalities, spanning wealth, race, identity, and nationality. Yet how can we strive for equality if we don't understand it? As much as we have struggled for equality, we have always been profoundly sceptical about it. How much do we want, and for whom? Darrin McMahon's 'Equality' is the definitive intellectual history, tracing equality's global origins and spread from the dawn of humanity through the Enlightenment to today.
£14.99
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Koran
The Koran is universally accepted by Muslims to be the infallible word of God as first revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel 1400 years ago. This translation is the result of N.J. Dawood's life-long study of the Koran's language and style.
£9.99
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The new Leviathans
Ever since its publication in 1651, Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan has unsettled and challenged how we understand the world. Condemned and vilified by each new generation, Hobbes' cold political vision continues to see through any number of political and ethical vanities. In his stimulating book 'The New Leviathans', John Gray allows us to understand the world of the 2020s with all its contradictions, moral horrors and disappointments through a new reading of Hobbes' classic work.
£10.99
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On freedom
Timothy Snyder has been called 'the leading interpreter of our dark times'. As a historian, he has given us startling reinterpretations of political collapse and mass killing. As a public intellectual, he has turned that knowledge toward counsel and prediction, working against authoritarians. His book 'On Tyranny' has inspired millions around the world to fight for freedom. Freedom is the great American commitment, but as Snyder argues, we have lost sight of what it means - and this is leading us into crisis. Too many of us look at freedom as the absence of state power: We think we're free if we can do and say as we please, and protect ourselves from government overreach. But true freedom isn't so much freedom from, as freedom to - the freedom to thrive, to take risks for futures we choose by working together. Freedom is the value that makes all other values possible.
£25.00
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Knowing what we know
'A delightful compendium of the kind of facts you immediately want to share with anyone you encounter' New York Times'An ebullient, irrepressible spirit invests this book. It is erudite and sprightly'Sunday Times
£10.99
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Meditations
Filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behaviour, 'Mediations' remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus's insights and advice - on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others - have made it required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style.
£9.99
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Philosophy and life
Drawing on the lives, experiences and works of a fantastically eclectic range of thinkers - taking in not only philosophers such as Confucius, Seneca and Nietzsche, but also authors from Shakespeare to Ursula LeGuin, and modern thinkers such as Martha Nussbaum and Simon May - this work brings together wisdom from across eras and continents in a tour de force on the philosophy of being human in a complicated world.
£10.99
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The stoic mindset
During the 2010 Olympic speed skating final, Mark Tuitert wasn't thinking about winning, but about Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus and Zeno - philosophers belonging to an ancient school of thought that emerged from their experiences of personal hardship. The Stoics developed a philosophy grounded in striving toward unbiased thinking, self-betterment through virtues, and a focus on only that which lies in our power to control. Having overcome injuries, familial conflict, and the extreme pressures of being a professional athlete, Tuitert still managed to hit his prime thanks to years of studying and practicing a Stoic mindset. Now, after two decades of applying this philosophy, and seeing the benefits as an athlete, husband, father and entrepreneur, he has distilled Stoicism and his personal experience into ten powerful lessons, allowing you to face adversity, deal with uncertainty and reach your potential.
£14.99
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Determined
Behind every thought, action and experience there lies a chain of biological and environmental causes, stretching back from the moment a neuron fires to the dawn of our species and beyond. Nowhere in this infinite sequence is there a place where free will could play a role. Without free will, it makes no more sense to punish people for antisocial behaviour than it does to scold a car for breaking down. It is no one's fault they are poor or overweight or unsuccessful, nor do people deserve praise for their talent or hard work; 'grit' is a myth. This mechanistic view of human behaviour challenges our most powerful instincts, but history suggests that we have already made great strides toward it: where once we saw demonic possession or cowardice, for example, now we diagnose illness or trauma and offer help. This book confronts us with our true nature: who and what we are is biology and nothing more.
£12.99
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The power of language
You may think you speak only one language. In fact, your mind is interpreting multiple codes of communication. Some people speak Spanish, some Mandarin. Some speak poetry, some are fluent in maths. Humans are built for multilingualism. Drawing on cutting-edge research and theory, delivered with wit and lucid insight, psycholinguist Viorica Marian explores the ways in which the mind uses multiple languages and how, in doing so, we can open the doors to unique forms of creativity, brain health and cognitive control. Every new language we speak - whether it is coding or musical notes, Hindi or Arabic - shapes how we extract and interpret information. It alters what we remember, how we perceive ourselves and those around us, how we feel, the insights we have, the decisions we make and the actions we take.
£10.99
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Humanly possible
The bestselling, prizewinning author of 'How to Live' and 'At the Existentialist Café' explores 700 years of writers, thinkers, scientists and artists, all trying to understand what it means to be truly human. It takes us on an irresistible journey, and joyfully celebrates open-mindedness, optimism, freedom and the power of the here and now - humanist values which have helped steer us through dark times in the past, and which are just as urgently needed in our world today.
£10.99
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A terribly serious adventure
'A Terribly Serious Adventure' traces the friendships and the rivalries, the shared preoccupations and the passionate disagreements of Oxford's most brilliant thinkers. Far from being stuck in a world of tweed, pipes and public schools, the Oxford philosophers drew on their wartime lives as soldiers and spies, conscientious objectors and prisoners of war in creating their greatest works, works that are original in both thought and style, true masterpieces of British modernism. Nikhil Krishnan brings his knowledge and understanding of philosophy to bear on the lives and intellectual achievements of a large and lively cast of characters. Together, they stood for a compelling moral vision of philosophy that is still with us today.
£12.99
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How to think like a woman
As a young woman growing up in a small, religious community, Regan Penaluna daydreamed about the big questions: Who are we and what is this strange world we find ourselves in? In college she discovered philosophy and fell in love with its rationality, its abstractions, its beauty. What Penaluna didn't realize was that philosophy - at least the canon that's taught in Western universities, as well as the culture that surrounds it - would slowly grind her down through its devaluation of women and their minds. 'How to Think Like a Woman' is a moving meditation on what philosophy could look like if women were treated equally.
£10.99
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On being unreasonable
Manners, order and respect - these are all ideals we subscribe to. In opposed positions, we ought to be able to 'agree to disagree'. Today's world is built from structures of standards and reason, but it is imperative to ask who constructed these norms, and why. We are more divided than ever before - along lines of race, gender, class, disability - and it's time to question who benefits the most. What if our propensity to measure human behaviour against rules and reason is actually more problematic than it might seem? Kirsty Sedgman shows how power dynamics and the social biases involved have resulted in a wide acceptance of what people should and shouldn't do, but they create discriminatory realities and amount to a societal façade that is dangerous for genuine social progress.
£9.99
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