Love and Other Thought Experiments

Author: Sophie Ward
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 059331431X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
This impressive debut novel, longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, takes its premise and inspiration from ten of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy—the what-ifs of philosophical investigation—and uses them to talk about love in a wholly unique way. Married couple Rachel and Eliza are considering having a child. Rachel wants one desperately, and Eliza thinks she does, too, but she can't quite seem to wrap her head around the idea. When Rachel wakes up screaming one night and tells Eliza that an ant has crawled into her eye and is stuck there, Eliza initially sees it as a cry for attention. But Rachel is adamant. She knows it sounds crazy—but she also knows it's true. As a scientist, Eliza is skeptical. Suddenly their entire relationship is called into question. What follows is a uniquely imaginative sequence of ten interconnecting episodes—each from a different character's perspective—inspired by some of the best-known thought experiments in philosophy. Together they form a sparkling philosophical tale of love lost and found across the universe.

An Experiment in Love

Author: Hilary Mantel
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
ISBN: 1429900598
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year It was the year after Chappaquiddick, and all spring Carmel McBain had watery dreams about the disaster. Now she, Karina, and Julianne were escaping the dreary English countryside for a London University hall of residence. Interspersing accounts of her current position as a university student with recollections of her childhood and an ever difficult relationship with her longtime schoolmate Karina, Carmel reflects on a generation of girls desiring the power of men, but fearful of abandoning what is expected and proper. When these bright but confused young women land in late 1960s London, they are confronted with a slew of new preoccupations--sex, politics, food, and fertility--and a pointless grotesque tragedy of their own. Hilary Mantel's magnificent novel examines the pressures on women during the early days of contemporary feminism to excel--but not be too successful--in England's complex hierarchy of class and status.

The Schoolhouse

Author: Sophie Ward
Publisher: Vintage
ISBN: 0593469275
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Book Description
From the Booker Prize-longlisted author of Love and Other Thought Experiments comes a masterful and gripping thriller about truth, silence, and the weight of the past. Isobel lives an isolated life in North London, where she works at a nearby library. She feels safe, so long as she keeps to her routines and doesn’t let her thoughts stray too far into the past. But a newspaper photograph of a missing local schoolgirl and a letter from her old teacher send her spiraling and bring back the trauma of what happened years ago, when she was a pupil at The Schoolhouse. The Schoolhouse was a 1970s experimental school where the usual rules did not apply. Life there was a dark interplay of freedom and adventure, violence and fear. It was here that Isobel learned that some truths should never be revealed. But try as she might, the truth is coming for Isobel, and everything and everyone she has tried to protect are now at risk.

Evolutionary Philosophy

Author: Ed Gibney
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 110569660X
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 234

Book Description
Evolutionary Philosophy is the foundation text for a new belief system. We are all products of evolution. Understanding all of the implications of this statement leads to a comprehensive worldview that can answer our universally shared questions: Where did I come from? What am I? What is a good life? How do I know? These questions and many more are answered in this book, before the beliefs of 60 of the top philosophers of history are put to the test in an evaluation of the survival of their fittest ideas. This is an audacious work of research and analysis from author Ed Gibney, who finishes by asking readers to help Evolutionary Philosophy to grow and adapt as mankind's knowledge continues to accumulate. This clear and accessible work promises to help you reevaluate mankind's place in the universe and your place in society.

The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten

Author: Julian Baggini
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101098074
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
Perfect for gifting to lovers of philosophy or mining intelligent ice-breaker topics for your next party, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten offers one hundred philosophical puzzles that stimulate thought on a host of moral, social, and personal dilemmas. Taking examples from sources as diverse as Plato and Steven Spielberg, author Julian Baggini presents abstract philosophical issues in concrete terms, suggesting possible solutions while encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions: Lively, clever, and thought-provoking, The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten is a portable feast for the mind that is sure to satisfy any intellectual appetite.

E-Squared

Author: Pam Grout
Publisher: Hay House, Inc
ISBN: 1401976379
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
For the 10th anniversary of the #1 New York Times bestseller, a new release complete with a brand-new Manifesting Scavenger Hunt. E-Squared could best be described as a lab manual with simple experiments to prove once and for all that reality is malleable, that consciousness trumps matter, and that you shape your life with your mind. Rather than take it on faith, you are invited to conduct nine 48-hour experiments to prove there really is a positive, loving, totally hip force in the universe. Yes, you read that right. It says prove. The experiments, each of which can be conducted with absolutely no money and very little time expenditure, demonstrate that spiritual principles are as dependable as gravity, as consistent as Newton’s laws of motion. For years, you’ve been hoping and praying that spiritual principles are true. E-Squared lets you know it for sure. NEW in this edition: A note from Pam Grout on the 10th anniversary of E-Squared, plus a brand-new Manifesting Scavenger Hunt with even more opportunities to prove your manifesting mojo. "I absolutely love this book. Pam has combined a writing style as funny as Ellen DeGeneres with a wisdom as deep and profound as Deepak Chopra's to deliver a powerful message and a set of experiments that will prove to you beyond a doubt that our thoughts really do create our reality." — Jack Canfield, co-creator of the New York Times best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul® series

Vehicles

Author: Valentino Braitenberg
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262521123
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 174

Book Description
These imaginative thought experiments are the inventions of one of the world's eminent brain researchers. These imaginative thought experiments are the inventions of one of the world's eminent brain researchers. They are "vehicles," a series of hypothetical, self-operating machines that exhibit increasingly intricate if not always successful or civilized "behavior." Each of the vehicles in the series incorporates the essential features of all the earlier models and along the way they come to embody aggression, love, logic, manifestations of foresight, concept formation, creative thinking, personality, and free will. In a section of extensive biological notes, Braitenberg locates many elements of his fantasy in current brain research.

The Four Loves

Author: Clive Staples Lewis
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780151329168
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 166

Book Description
Analyzes the feelings and problems involved in different types of human love, including familial affection, friendship, passion, and charity.

Wittgenstein's Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments

Author: Martin Cohen
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470777257
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Wittgenstein’s Beetle and Other Classic Thought Experiments invites readers to participate actively in discovering the surprisingly powerful and fruitful tradition of "thought experiments." Gives a lively presentation of an "A to Z" of 26 fascinating and influential thought experiments from philosophy and science Presents vivid and often humorous discussion of the experiments, including strengths and weaknesses, historical context, and contemporary uses Provides a "how to" section for engaging in thought experiments Includes illustrations, mini-biographies, and suggestions for further reading.

Elephants on Acid

Author: Alex Boese
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 075222686X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
Discover a world of outrageous experiments with the Sunday Times top ten bestseller, Elephants on Acid. Guided by Alex Boese's engaging storytelling, unearth answers to questions that have tickled your curious mind – from the unusual to the hilariously absurd. 'Excellent accounts of some of the most important and interesting experiments in biology and psychology' – Simon Singh, author of The Code Book A riveting look at historical experiments that challenge conventional thinking: If left to their own devices, would babies instinctively choose a well-balanced diet? - Discover the secret of how to sleep on planes - Which really tastes better in a blind tasting - Coke or Pepsi? - Would your dog run to fetch help if you fell down a disused mineshaft? - What would happen if you gave an elephant the largest ever single dose of LSD? Elephants on Acid humorously delves into these and more, delivering a unique blend of popular psychology and historical science – a fascinating insight into the bizarre world of scientific experiments.