Overview

Science, according to the received wisdom of the day, can answer any question we choose to put to it -- even the most fundamental about ourselves, our behaviour and our cultures. But for Mary Midgley it can never be the whole story, as it cannot truly explain what it means to be human. In this typically crusading work, universally acclaimed as a classic on first publication, she powerfully asserts her corrective view that without poetry (or literature, or music, or history, or even theology) we cannot hope to understand our humanity. In this remarkable book, the reader is struck by both the simplicity and power of her argument and the sheer pleasure of reading one of our most accessible philosophers.

Full Product Details

Author:   Mary Midgley (Newcastle Upon-Tyne University, UK) ,  the author
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 12.90cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.342kg
ISBN:  

9780415378482

ISBN 10:   0415378486
Pages:   328
Publication Date:   01 February 2006
Audience:   General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Part 1: Visions of Rationality 1. The Sources of Thought 2. Knowledge Considered as Weed-Killer 3. Rationality and Rainbows 4. The Origin of Disillusion 5. Atomistic Dreams; The Quest for Permanence 6. Memes and Other Unusual Life-FormsPart 2: Mind and Body; The End of Apartheid 7. Putting Our Selves Together Again 8. Living in the World 9. The Strange Persistence of Fatalism 10. Chess-Boards and Presidents of the Immortals 11. Doing Science on Purpose 12. One World but a Big One 13 A Plague on both their Houses 14. Being Scientific about Our SelvesPart 3: In What Kind of World? 15. Widening Responsibilities 16. The Problem of Humbug 17. Individualism and the Concept of Gaia 18. Gods and Goddesses; The Role of Wonder 19. Why There is Such a Thing as Society 20. Paradoxes of Sociobiology and Social Darwinism 21. Mythology, Rhetoric and Religion

Reviews

'A fiercely combative philosopher ! our foremost scourge of scientific pretension.' -- The Guardian

Author Information

Mary Midgley (1919-2018) is a popular moral philosopher and has been described by The Guardian as ""the foremost scourge of scientific pretension in this country."" She has recently completed her autobiography, The Owl of Minerva (Routledge, 2005).

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