Thomas Nagel

“Nagel is a hugely influential and respected philosopher of recent times, and I think this book really shocked the philosophy world when it was published in 2012 with the subtitle ‘Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False.’ Maybe he felt bold enough to publish this controversial book in his older years, but he was arguing that a range of phenomena – consciousness, moral knowledge, reason – cannot be accounted for, in his view, in the traditional materialist Darwinian framework. Ultimately, he said that we need a new paradigm, and although we don’t know what it is, here’s a first guess: teleological laws with purposes built into them…This was an act of heresy and it got treated as such. The book received incredibly aggressive reviews.” Read more...

The best books on Cosmic Purpose

Philip Goff, Philosopher

“This is a wonderful book…a series of chapters on different themes to do with life and death. He has a wonderful essay on equality, a great essay on war, and essays on consciousness as well, which is what makes living things different from dead things. What I love about Nagel is his ability to identify what really matters about a subject, and to write about it without getting caught in too much nitty-gritty detail.” Read more...

The best books on Ethical Problems

David Edmonds, Philosopher

“It’s perfect for someone who wants to find out what philosophy is all about. First of all, it’s very, very short. Secondly, it’s written in prose that is completely unpretentious, unpatronising and clear. It’s the kind of book you could read in an evening, but at the same time you’d really have a flavour of what philosophy is. It’s got the authority of him being a significant philosopher in his own right, but if you had no idea who he was it wouldn’t matter. The writing is almost Orwellian in its simplicity and directness.” Read more...

The Best Introductions to Philosophy

Nigel Warburton, Philosopher