Books by Simon (Professor of Philosophy Blackburn

This dictionary is written by one of the leading philosophers of our time, and it is recognized as the best dictionary of its kind. Comprehensive and authoritative, it includes over 3,300 alphabetical entries, it is the ideal introduction to philosophy for anyone with an interest in the subject, as well as students and teachers.

This is a book about the big questions in life: knowledge, consciousness, fate, God, truth, goodness, justice. It is for anyone who thinks there are big questions lurking out there, but does not know how to approach them. Written by the author of the bestselling Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Think sets out to explain what they are and why they are important.

Blackburn offers a tour de force exploration of what he calls "the most exciting and engaging issue in the whole of philosophy"--the age-old war over truth. Among the questions Blackburn considers are: Is science mere opinion, can historians understand another historical period, and indeed can one culture ever truly understand another?

The aim of this volume is to rescue lust 'from the denunciations of old men of the deserts, to deliver it from the pallid and envious confessor and the stocks and pillories of the Puritans, to drag it from the category of sin to that of virtue'.

The author posits a philosophy of human motivation and morality in which he maintains that we cannot get clear about ethics until we get clear about human nature. He seeks the answers in an exploration of guilt, shame and other moral emotions, and draws on game theory and cognitive science