Preface Acknowledgements 1. Welcome to the rational irrational - how to win, how to starve, and how to pump money 2. Too clever by one half - or at least one eighth 3. Lather, rinse, repeat - 'repeat' did you say? 4. Infinity: no ends; no beginning - a flea, fly and bandit 5. Heaps and haze, colours and clocks - and 1,001 cats 6. Ravens, lotteries - and a gruesome tale or two 7. Morality and politics - blackmail, buck-passing and voting 8. Encounters with God - and his mysterious ways 9. Encounters with ourselves and our mysterious ways - life, luck and love 10. When to stop Appendices Further reading Notes, sources and references Paradoxes purveyed Bibliography General Index
A lively and accessible introduction to philosophical paradoxes - ideal for anyone coming to this fascinating subject for the first time.
Peter Cave is a popular philosophy writer and speaker. He read
philosophy at University College London and King's College
Cambridge, has held lectureships in Britain and given guest
presentations at various other European universities; some time ago
he held a lectureship at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. For
many years he has been a lecturer at the Open University and New
York University, London.
Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Honorary Member of
Population Matters, former member of the Council of the Royal
Institute of Philosophy and Chair of Humanist Philosophers – and is
a Patron of Humanists UK. Peter has scripted and presented BBC
radio philosophy programmes – from a series on the Paradox Fair to
more serious ones on John Stuart Mill. He often takes part in
public debates on religion, ethics and socio-political matters.
His philosophy books include This Sentence Is False: An
Introduction to Philosophical Paradoxes (2009), and three
Beginner's Guides: to Humanism, Philosophy and Ethics. More recent
works are The Big Think Book: Discover Philosophy Through 99
Perplexing Problems (2015) and The Myths We Live By: A Contrarian’s
Guide to Democracy, Free Speech and Other Liberal Fictions (2019).
"Peter Cave takes us on an edifying tour through the world of
paradoxes, and there is much to be learned, as well as much
enjoyment to be had, in the process." - Adrian W. Moore, University
of Oxford, UK
"‘This sentence is false' is a sentence printed on the cover of
this book. A sentence is not a name. So what is the name of the
book? This book (whatever its name) is full of intriguing
philosophical puzzles ... Paradoxes may seem trivial at first
glance, but further thought reveals them to be challenges to some
of our most fundamental beliefs and preconceptions. Peter Cave
entertainingly escorts the reader through a great variety of these
fascinating puzzles, shining light that is fresh and bright."-
Laurence Goldstein, University of Kent, UK
"This is a truly wonderful book. The topic is tough, but Peter Cave
brings it to life. He manages to give new insights on old topics,
which is itself remarkable, and he also brings in plenty of less
familiar topics ... All in all, it is a joy to see such cleverness
and clarity of thought coexisting with such an easy (and light and
amusing) writing style." - Professor Imre Leader, Cambridge
University, UK
Absorbing and provocative - hard to put down, and light as a
feather to pick up again.
*Law Society Journal*
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