How To Think – serie

An entertaining guide to history’s most fascinating philosophers – from Sappho to Kant, and Aristotle to Simone de Beauvoir – which seeks to help us answer life’s big questions.In showing how the great philosophers of human history lived and thought – and what they thought about – Peter Cave provides an accessible and enjoyable introduction to thinking philosophically and how it can change our everyday lives. He addresses questions such as: Is there anything ‘out there’ that gives meaning to our lives? Does reality tell us how we ought to live? What indeed is reality and what is appearance – and how can we tell the difference?This book paints vivid portraits of an assortment of inspiring thinkers: from Lao Tzu to Avicenna to Iris Murdoch; from Hannah Arendt to Socrates and Plato to Karl Marx; from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche to Sartre to Samuel Beckett – and let us not forget Lewis Carroll for some thought-provoking fantasies and Ludwig Wittgenstein for the anguishes of a genius. As well as displaying optimists and pessimists, believers and non-believers, the book displays relevance to current affairs, from free speech to abortion to the treatment of animals to our leaders’ moral character.Cave brings to life these often prescient, always compelling philosophical thinkers, showing how their ways of approaching the world grew out of their own lives and times and how we may make valuable use of their insights today. Now, more than ever, we need to understand how to live, and how to understand the world around us.

An entertaining guide to history's most influential and inspiring poets – from Homer and Sappho to Shakespeare and Frank O'Hara – and how they can teach us to better understand the world around us.How did the greatest poets in history make the world anew? And what can we learn from the magic, wisdom and humour of their poetry? From the genius of the Ancient Greeks through to the love poetry and metaphysics of the Renaissance, through to the New York poets of the 20th century, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest writers of the human age.Through short, biographical portraits, poet and writer Dai George provides an entertaining introduction to the great works of poetry, and a welcoming guide to how we can read them. He addresses questions poets have grappled with: How can we truly describe the world? How can we express love, grief or friendship? How can poetry help us to understand justice, dreams or anger?This book paints vivid pictures of a global selection of renowned poets throughout history: from Sappho, Li Bai and Rumi, to William Shakespeare and John Donne, to Frank O Hara, Pablo Neruda and Sylvia Plath. George also seeks to re-examine the canon, traditionally dominated by Western, white and male poets, and bring to light major figures from other important cultures and communities, including China, India and the Caribbean.

An entertaining guide to history's most influential and inspiring poets – from Homer and Sappho to Shakespeare and Frank O'Hara – and how they can teach us to better understand the world around us.How did the greatest poets in history make the world anew? And what can we learn from the magic, wisdom and humour of their poetry? From the genius of the Ancient Greeks through to the love poetry and metaphysics of the Renaissance, through to the New York poets of the 20th century, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest writers of the human age.Through short, biographical portraits, poet and writer Dai George provides an entertaining introduction to the great works of poetry, and a welcoming guide to how we can read them. He addresses questions poets have grappled with: How can we truly describe the world? How can we express love, grief or friendship? How can poetry help us to understand justice, dreams or anger?This book paints vivid pictures of a global selection of renowned poets throughout history: from Sappho, Li Bai and Rumi, to William Shakespeare and John Donne, to Frank O Hara, Pablo Neruda and Sylvia Plath. George also seeks to re-examine the canon, traditionally dominated by Western, white and male poets, and bring to light major figures from other important cultures and communities, including China, India and the Caribbean.

'An entertaining guide to the rhyme and reason of poetry' -- The IdlerHow history's most influential and inspiring poets – from Homer and Sappho to Shakespeare and Frank O'Hara – can teach us to better understand the world.How did the greatest poets in history make the world anew? And what can we learn from the magic, wisdom and humour of their poetry? From the genius of the Ancient Greeks through to the love poetry and metaphysics of the Renaissance, through to the New York poets of the 20th century, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest writers of the human age.Through short, biographical portraits, poet and writer Dai George provides an entertaining introduction to the great works of poetry, and a welcoming guide to how we can read them. He addresses questions poets have grappled with: How can we truly describe the world? How can we express love, grief or friendship? How can poetry help us to understand justice, dreams or anger?This book paints vivid pictures of a global selection of renowned poets throughout history: from Sappho, Li Bai and Rumi, to William Shakespeare and John Donne, to Frank O'Hara, Pablo Neruda and Sylvia Plath. George also re-examines the canon, traditionally dominated by Western, white and male poets, and bring to light major figures from other important cultures and communities, including China, India and the Caribbean.

Capturing the essence of history’s most influential economists in enjoyable and illuminating biographical sketches, this book shows how the great economic thinkers are still relevant today.We live in the economy – and we are part of it. Living through a pandemic, governments had to work out how to put economies into a deep freeze without destroying them. Avoiding climate catastrophe means changing economies so that they don’t bake the world.In explaining how economic thinking is indispensable to tackling these huge problems, this book is a sure-footed guide, spanning Aristotle’s ideas about restraining consumption, Adam Smith’s thinking about the importance of moral character for sustained economic development, and Esther Duflo’s ongoing work to help the world’s poorest communities lift themselves out of poverty. It shows how the greatest economic thinkers – Karl Marx, Maynard Keynes, and Friedrich Hayek, among many others – have enabled us to see the world differently, and how we can make it better.It shows that economic thinking emerged, long before there were economists – and that good economics is about much more than the economy, so everyone should understand these vital ideas.Along the way, the book quietly subverts what you think you know about economics, especially by showing how women found a place in the development of ideas even when discrimination denied them any formal role.

This book will leave the reader not just smarter – but wiser. -- Professor Erik Angner, Stockholm University, author of How Economics Can Save the WorldWe live in the economy – and we are part of it. Living through a pandemic, governments had to work out how to put economies into a deep freeze without destroying them. Avoiding climate catastrophe means changing economies so that they don’t bake the world.In explaining how economic thinking is indispensable to tackling these huge problems, this book is a sure-footed guide, spanning Aristotle’s ideas about restraining consumption, Adam Smith’s thinking about the importance of moral character for sustained economic development, and Esther Duflo’s ongoing work to help the world’s poorest communities lift themselves out of poverty. It shows how the greatest economic thinkers – Karl Marx, Maynard Keynes, and Friedrich Hayek, among many others – have enabled us to see the world differently, and how we can make it better.It shows that economic thinking emerged, long before there were economists – and that good economics is about much more than the economy, so everyone should understand these vital ideas.Entertaining and educational, you'll soon be rethinking what you know about economics, especially when the book shows how women found a place in the development of ideas even when discrimination denied them any formal role.

Capturing the essence of history’s most influential economists in enjoyable and illuminating biographical sketches, this book shows how the great economic thinkers are still relevant today.We live in the economy – and we are part of it. Living through a pandemic, governments had to work out how to put economies into a deep freeze without destroying them. Avoiding climate catastrophe means changing economies so that they don’t bake the world.In explaining how economic thinking is indispensable to tackling these huge problems, this book is a sure-footed guide, spanning Aristotle’s ideas about restraining consumption, Adam Smith’s thinking about the importance of moral character for sustained economic development, and Esther Duflo’s ongoing work to help the world’s poorest communities lift themselves out of poverty. It shows how the greatest economic thinkers – Karl Marx, Maynard Keynes, and Friedrich Hayek, among many others – have enabled us to see the world differently, and how we can make it better.It shows that economic thinking emerged, long before there were economists – and that good economics is about much more than the economy, so everyone should understand these vital ideas.Along the way, the book quietly subverts what you think you know about economics, especially by showing how women found a place in the development of ideas even when discrimination denied them any formal role.

An illuminating guide to history’s most influential and inspiring artists – from Michelangelo to Frida Kahlo – and how they can teach us to see the world more clearly.How did the greatest artists in history look at the world through new eyes? And what can we learn from the imagination, boldness and originality of their art? From the allusive frescos of the Renaissance to the cool irony of conceptual art in the 20th century, this is the ultimate guide to the greatest artists of the human age.Curator and writer Catherine Daunt interweaves the lives and loves of these great artists with moving and enlightening descriptions of their most famous and important works. This book takes the reader on a whirlwind journey through the greatest art of all time, and shows us how we can understand and interpret them.Daunt re-examines the canon, traditionally dominated by Western, white and male artists, and makes space for major figures from other cultures and traditions, as well as those who have been traditionally overlooked because of their gender or class. Every artist in this book has made a revolutionary contribution to art, changing the way that we view, depict and navigate our world.