Nigel Warburton

All archaeologists have to do some imagining because the data they work with is so partial and fragmentary, says Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art. She picks five books that help bring to life our closest relations, from a historical novel by a Nobel Prize-winning writer to a work of sci-fi about a hybrid Neanderthal child.

The likelihood that intelligent life would come to exist on Earth is so improbable, it’s time to re-explore the idea of cosmic purpose, argues Philip Goff, a professor of philosophy at the University of Durham and the author of Why? The Purpose of the Universe. He recommends five books that cast doubt on our post-Darwinian worldview and help us consider the latest findings of science and philosophy more fully.

Advances in artificial intelligence pose a myriad of ethical questions, but the most incisive thinking on this subject says more about humans than it does about machines, says Paula Boddington, philosopher and author of a recent AI ethics textbook. We first spoke to Paula in 2017—a long time ago in a fast-moving field. This week we caught up with her to find out what’s happened since then and which new books have taken the conversation over ethics and AI further.

Daniel Dennett is not only one of the most distinguished philosophers of mind working today, he also writes great books. As he publishes his memoir, I’ve Been Thinking, he talks us through some of the books that most influenced him, including two by evolutionary biologists.

What does it mean to be a good parent and what influence do we have on children as they navigate the challenges of the 21st century? Philosopher Elizabeth Cripps, a senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, recommends books that shed light on some of the ethics of parenting, including one on how to raise kids who aren’t assholes.

With almost two million people in prison in the US on any given day, it’s clear that something is going badly wrong. The question is what to do about it. Harvard philosopher Tommie Shelby talks us through five books by thinkers of the past 150 years who have argued that abolishing prisons is the only solution.

We all have opinions about things and sometimes quite strong ones. When it comes to our values and politics we also tend to think we’re right. That’s why examining how we think is so important, argues philosopher Julian Baggini. That’s something philosophy can help with, if it’s done well. Here he recommends five books that shed some light on how philosophers think, when they’re thinking at their best.

As a professional cyclist, James Hibbard looked to philosophy to provide some of the answers he was looking for. He describes that quest in his book, The Art of Cycling. Here, he shares some of his own favourite cycling books, from the best cycling novel to the true story of cyclists who aim to ride the entire length of the United Kingdom in 40 hours. These are books that you don’t need to be a professional cyclist or die-hard fan to appreciate.  

To the modern reader, Neoplatonist thinkers can seem quite alien, but engaging with them helps us to understand ourselves and modern philosophy better, says Ursula Coope, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Oxford. She recommends five books to introduce readers to Neoplatonist philosophy, starting with Plotinus in the 3rd century.

Philosophers have a lot to add to debates about digital technology and the moral issues raised by its rapid rise, argues Carissa Véliz, a professor at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI. Here she talks us through books for the general reader that introduce some of the challenges of digital ethics, from concerns about privacy and bias to the threat to democracy and the future of humanity.