Books in the Thinking in Action series

This is a fascinating and beautifully written book on what philosophy can tell us about humour and about what it is to be human. It will fascinate and intrigue anyone with a sense of humour, which hopefully is all of us.

A thoughtful and stimulating look at this widely-used but little understood phenomenon, personality. Drawing on a great range of philosophers, novelists and films Peter Goldie looks at the concept of personality.

What is courage and why is it one of the oldest and most universally admired virtues? How is it relevant in the world and what contemporary forms does it take? This book defines courage, asking how it differs from fearlessness, recklessness and fortitude, and why people are often more willing to ascribe it to others than to avow it for themselves.

Drawing on government reports and legal decisions from the US and around the world, this book asks if privacy is an entitlement that protects us from oppression and exploitation, or whether we are too quick to overlook its costs in the concealment of irresponsible and dangerous behavior. It examines the problems of defining privacy.

Delusions play a fundamental role in the history of psychology, philosophy and culture, dividing not only the mad from the sane but reason from unreason. What are delusions? How do they differ from everyday errors or mistaken beliefs? Are they scientific categories? This title explores these questions and more.

Drawing on examples from a wide range of landscapes from around the world and throughout history, this title considers the ways landscapes can affect our emotions, our imaginations, and our understanding of the passage of time. It reveals the design work involved in even the most naturalistic of landscapes.

What is the relationship between waiting and time? Is there an ethics of waiting, or even an art of waiting? Do the internet, online shopping and text messaging mean that waiting has come to an end? This book explores such and similar questions in fashion. It presents a philosophy of waiting.

Architecture is a philosophical puzzle. Although we spend most of our time in buildings, we rarely reflect on what they mean or how we experience them. This book argues that this is a consequence of neglecting the role of the body in architecture.

Argues that the proper task of the critic is not simply to describe, or to uncover hidden meanings or agendas, but ultimately to determine what is of value in art. This book also argues for a humanistic conception of criticism which focuses on what the artist has achieved by creating or performing the work.

Examines the emotion of shame psychologically and philosophically, in order to show how it can be a galvanizing force for moral action against the violence and atrocity that characterize the world we live in.

The media often talk about public opinion, the 'American' or 'British' public, or the movie-going public. A public can hold an opinion and be divided.

Paul Ricoeur was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. In this book, he turns to a topic at the heart of much of his work: What is translation and why is it so important? He reminds us that translation not only spreads knowledge but can change its very meaning.

The potential to clone, augment, and repair human beings is pushing the very concept of the human to its limit. Fantasies and metaphors of a supposedly monstrous and inhuman future increasingly dominate films, art and popular culture.

John Harris presents a defence of cloning, by exposing the rhetorical nature of the arguments against it. He tackles each of the myths in turn and argues that some of the most cherished human values, such as the right to start a family and freedom from state control, actually support the case for cloning.

Can the internet solve the problem of mass education, and bring human beings to a level of community? This title agues that there is much in common between the disembodied, free floating web and Descartes' separation of mind and body. It includes a chapter on 'Second Life'.

Presents an argument about the future of politics and addresses the fundamental aspects of democracy. Arguing that liberal 'third way thinking' ignores fundamental, conflicting aspects of human nature, this book states that, far from expanding democracy, globalization is undermining the combative and radical heart of democratic life.

Can science explain everything? This book explores both the scope and limits of science. Tracing back to the roots of scientific thinking in a world of "magical ideals", the author argues that science shares more with magic than we are often led to believe.

Richard Kearney skilfully illuminates how stories are deep at work in all forms of writing, and discusses the power of the story in its ability to determine our identities and the identity of the world around us.

Is it possible to uphold international hospitality and justice in the face of nationalism and civil strife in so many countries? Using examples of treatment of minorities in Europe, Derrida probes the thinking behind cosmopolitanism.

Beginning with the nature of literature, this also asks the questions of why we should read literature and why literature has such authority over us.This will be essential reading for any interested in the future of literature.

What is the basis for belief in an era when globalisation, multiculturalism and big business is the new religion? Renowned philosopher and irrepressible cultural critic takes on all comers in this compelling new book.

The question 'What is the meaning of life?' is one of the oldest and most difficult questions we have ever asked ourselves. John Cottingham asks why we are so preoccupied with this question and assesses some attempts to answer it.

Drawing on vivid examples, Renata Salecl argues that what really produces anxiety is the attempt to get rid of it. Erudite and compelling - essential reading for anyone interested in philosophy, psychology and the cultural phenomenon of anxiety.