How to Think Like a Philosopher | Granta

  • Published: 23/02/2023
  • ISBN: 9781783788514
  • Granta Books
  • 320 pages

How to Think Like a Philosopher

Julian Baggini

As politics slides toward impulsivity, and outrage bests rationality, how can philosophy help us critically engage with the world?

How to Think Like A Philosopher is a revelatory exploration of the methods, tenets and attitudes of thought that guide philosophy, and how they can be applied to our own lives.

Drawing on decades of enquiry and a huge range of interviews, Julian Baggini identifies twelve key principles that promote incisive thinking. Pay attention; question everything; seek clarity, not certainty: these are just a few of philosophy’s guiding maxims which can be applied to everything from understanding the impact of climate change to correctly appraising our own temperaments.

Both a fresh introduction to philosophy covering canonical and contemporary philosophers, and an essential, practical guide to good thinking, How to Think Like a Philosopher shows us the way to a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking, to politics, and to life.

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

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

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

The Author

Julian Baggini‘s books include Welcome to Everytown: A Journey into the English Mind, What’s It All About?: Philosophy and the Meaning of Life, the bestselling The Pig that Wants to be Eaten, Do They Think You’re Stupid?, The Ego Trick, The Virtues of the Table: How to Eat and Think, Freedom Regained, and the bestselling How The World Thinks, all published by Granta Books. He has written for various newspapers, magazines, academic journals and think tanks. His website is microphilosophy.net.

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