Overview

What if you aren’t who you think you are? What if you don’t really know the people closest to you? And what if your most deeply-held beliefs turn out to be … wrong? In Stop Being Reasonable, philosopher and journalist Eleanor Gordon-Smith tells six lucid, gripping stories that show the limits of human reason. From the woman who realised her husband harboured a terrible secret, to the man who left the cult he had been raised in since birth, and the British reality TV contestant who, having impersonated someone else for a month, discovered he could no longer return to his former identity, all of the people interviewed radically altered their beliefs about the things that matter most. What made them change course? How should their reversals affect how we think about our own beliefs? And in an increasingly divided world, what do they teach us about how we might change the minds of others? Inspiring, perceptive, and often moving, Stop Being Reasonable explores the place where philosophy and real life meet. Ultimately, it argues that when it comes to finding out what’s true or convincing others about what we know, being rational might involve our hearts as well as our minds.

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9781912854141

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Reviews

'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' -- Amia Srinivasan 'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' -- Shahidha Bari `The book is slickly written and relies for its substance on contemporary epistemology and ethics, rather than the usual well-trodden paths of nudge theory and popular psychology.' -- Dan Brotzel * Press Association * `Witty and intelligent.' -- Jonnie Wolf * The Observer * `I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.' -- Ira Glass

'Relevant and accessible ... a witty book.' -- Jonnie Woolf * The Observer * 'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' -- Amia Srinivasan 'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' -- Shahidha Bari 'The book is slickly written and relies for its substance on contemporary epistemology and ethics, rather than the usual well-trodden paths of nudge theory and popular psychology.' -- Dan Brotzel * Press Association * 'I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.' -- Ira Glass

'This is a funny, sharp-edged and deeply serious book about a mainstream myth: that we all know what rationality demands. A pleasure to read.' -- Amia Srinivasan 'A frank and thoughtful new voice ... this is an assured and companionable guide through the wilderness of contemporary ethics.' -- Shahidha Bari `The book is slickly written and relies for its substance on contemporary epistemology and ethics, rather than the usual well-trodden paths of nudge theory and popular psychology.' -- Dan Brotzel * Press Association * `Relevant and accessible ... a witty book.' -- Jonnie Woolf * The Guardian * `I knew how piercingly smart Eleanor Gordon-Smith is, and what a curious and resolute interviewer. But I was unprepared for how entertainingly she writes! I read this with pleasure.' -- Ira Glass

Author Information

Eleanor Gordon-Smith is a reporter, ethicist, and recovering champion debater. Currently at Princeton University, she has lectured on topics from the foundations of the political state to the philosophy of sex. Her work has appeared in NPR’s This American Life, Australia’s Radio National, the ABC, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and Meanjin.

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