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The Brain Abstracted: Simplification in the History and Philosophy of Neuroscience
by M. ChirimuutaAn exciting, new framework for interpreting the philosophical significance of neuroscience.All science needs to simplify, but when the object of research is something as complicated as the brain, this challenge can stretch the limits of scientific possibility. In fact, in The Brain Abstracted, an avowedly &“opinionated&” history of neuroscience, M. Chirimuuta argues that, due to the brain&’s complexity, neuroscientific theories have only captured partial truths—and &“neurophilosophy&” is unlikely to be achieved. Looking at the theory and practice of neuroscience, both past and present, Chirimuuta shows how the science has been shaped by the problem of brain complexity and the need, in science, to make things as simple as possible. From this history, Chirimuuta draws lessons for debates in philosophy of science over the limits and definition of science and in philosophy of mind over explanations of consciousness and the mind-body problem.The Brain Abstracted is the product of a historical rupture that has become visible in the twenty-first century, between the &“classical&” scientific approach, which seeks simple, intelligible principles underlying the manifest complexity of nature, and a data-driven engineering approach, which dispenses with the search for elegant, explanatory laws and models. In the space created by this rupture, Chirimuuta finds grounds for theoretical and practical humility. Her aim in The Brain Abstracted is not to reform neuroscience, or offer advice to neuroscientists, but rather to interpret their work—and to suggest a new framework for interpreting the philosophical significance of neuroscience.
The Brain Electric: The Dramatic High-Tech Race to Merge Minds and Machines
by Malcolm GayThe gripping and revelatory story of the dramatic race to merge the human brain with machinesLeading neuroscience researchers are racing to unlock the secrets of the mind. On the cusp of decoding brain signals that govern motor skills, they are developing miraculous technologies to enable paraplegics and wounded soldiers to move prosthetic limbs, and the rest of us to manipulate computers and other objects through thought alone. These fiercely competitive scientists are vying for Defense Department and venture capital funding, prestige, and great wealth. Part life-altering cure, part science fiction, part military dream, these cutting-edge brain-computer interfaces promise to improve lives—but also hold the potential to augment soldiers' combat capabilities. In The Brain Electric, Malcolm Gay follows the dramatic emergence of these technologies, taking us behind the scenes into the operating rooms, start-ups, and research labs where the future is unfolding. With access to many of the field's top scientists, Gay illuminates this extraordinary race—where science, medicine, profit, and war converge—for the first time. But this isn't just a story about technology. At the heart of this research is a group of brave, vulnerable patient-volunteers whose lives are given new meaning through participating in these experiments. The Brain Electric asks us to rethink our relationship to technology, our bodies, even consciousness itself—challenging our assumptions about what it means to be human.
The Brain and Conscious Unity
by Petr BobIn this provocative text, a noted neuroscientist reexamines Freud's posthumously published Project of Scientific Psychology in the light of modern neuroscience. This expanded "thermodynamics of the mind" model includes robust conceptions of the cellular and neural processes that accompany creation of consciousness and memory, their contributions to such conditions as depression, dissociative disorders, and schizophrenia, and implications for practice, from imaging to talk-based therapies to pharmacotherapy. Central to this construct is Freud's proposal of specific "omega" neurons as the most volatile carriers of consciousness between mind and brain, which is applied to current issues regarding complexity and executive functioning. In addition, the book is extensively referenced, allowing readers to investigate these and related phenomena in greater detail. Among the topics covered: Neural reductionism in Freud's "Project" and neuropsychoanalysis. Thermodynamics and brain self-organization. Conflicting information and the dissociated mind. The Cartesian model of the mind and the binding problem. Neuroendocrine and immune response to stress. The concept of omega neurons and modern chaos theory. Rigorous, challenging, and occasionally startling, The Brain and Conscious Unity is a milestone in the neuroscience and mind/brain literature to be read and discussed by psychiatrists, psychologists, and neuropsychologists.
The Brain and the Meaning of Life
by Paul ThagardHow brain science answers the most intriguing questions about the meaning of lifeWhy is life worth living? What makes actions right or wrong? What is reality and how do we know it? The Brain and the Meaning of Life draws on research in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience to answer some of the most pressing questions about life's nature and value. Paul Thagard argues that evidence requires the abandonment of many traditional ideas about the soul, free will, and immortality, and shows how brain science matters for fundamental issues about reality, morality, and the meaning of life. The ongoing Brain Revolution reveals how love, work, and play provide good reasons for living.Defending the superiority of evidence-based reasoning over religious faith and philosophical thought experiments, Thagard argues that minds are brains and that reality is what science can discover. Brains come to know reality through a combination of perception and reasoning. Just as important, our brains evaluate aspects of reality through emotions that can produce both good and bad decisions. Our cognitive and emotional abilities allow us to understand reality, decide effectively, act morally, and pursue the vital needs of love, work, and play. Wisdom consists of knowing what matters, why it matters, and how to achieve it.The Brain and the Meaning of Life shows how brain science helps to answer questions about the nature of mind and reality, while alleviating anxiety about the difficulty of life in a vast universe. The book integrates decades of multidisciplinary research, but its clear explanations and humor make it accessible to the general reader.
The Brain is Wider Than the Sky: Why Simple Solutions Don't Work in a Complex World
by Bryan AppleyardA brand-new book from the award-winning SUNDAY TIMES journalist Brian Appleyard.Simplicity has become a brand and a cult. People want simple lives and simple solutions. And now our technology wants us to be simpler, to be 'machine readable'. From telephone call trees that simplify us into a series of 'options' to social networks that reduce us to our purchases and preferences, we are deluged with propaganda urging us to abandon our irreducibly complex selves. At the same time, scientists tell us we are 'simply' the products of evolution, nothing more than our genes. Brain scanners have inspired neuroscientists to claim they are close to cracking the problem of the human mind. 'Human equivalent' computers are being designed that, we are told, will do our thinking for us. Humans are being simplified out of existence. It is time, says Bryan Appleyard, to resist, and to reclaim the full depth of human experience. We are, he argues, naturally complex creatures, we are only ever at home in complexity. Through art and literature we see ourselves in ways that machines never can. He makes an impassioned plea for the voices of art to be heard before those of the technocrats. Part memoir, part reportage, part cultural analysis, THE BRAIN IS WIDER THAN THE SKY is a dire warning about what we may become and a lyrical evocation of what humans can be. For the brain is indeed wider than the sky.
The Brain is Wider Than the Sky: Why Simple Solutions Don't Work in a Complex World
by Bryan AppleyardA brand-new book from the award-winning SUNDAY TIMES journalist Brian Appleyard.Simplicity has become a brand and a cult. People want simple lives and simple solutions. And now our technology wants us to be simpler, to be 'machine readable'. From telephone call trees that simplify us into a series of 'options' to social networks that reduce us to our purchases and preferences, we are deluged with propaganda urging us to abandon our irreducibly complex selves. At the same time, scientists tell us we are 'simply' the products of evolution, nothing more than our genes. Brain scanners have inspired neuroscientists to claim they are close to cracking the problem of the human mind. 'Human equivalent' computers are being designed that, we are told, will do our thinking for us. Humans are being simplified out of existence. It is time, says Bryan Appleyard, to resist, and to reclaim the full depth of human experience. We are, he argues, naturally complex creatures, we are only ever at home in complexity. Through art and literature we see ourselves in ways that machines never can. He makes an impassioned plea for the voices of art to be heard before those of the technocrats. Part memoir, part reportage, part cultural analysis, THE BRAIN IS WIDER THAN THE SKY is a dire warning about what we may become and a lyrical evocation of what humans can be. For the brain is indeed wider than the sky.
The Brain-Based Classroom: Accessing Every Child’s Potential Through Educational Neuroscience
by Kieran O'MahonyThe Brain-Based Classroom translates findings from educational neuroscience into a new paradigm of practices suitable for any teacher. The human brain is a site of spectacular capacity for joy, motivation, and personal satisfaction, but how can educators harness its potential to help children reach truly fulfilling goals? Using this innovative collection of brain-centric strategies, teachers can transform their classrooms into deep learning spaces that support their students through self-regulation and mindset shifts. These fresh insights will help teachers resolve classroom management issues, prevent crises and disruptive behaviors, and center social-emotional learning and restorative practices.
The Brain: Cortical Organization And The Group-selective Theory Of Higher Brain Function
by Gerald M. Edelman Jean-Pierre ChangeuxOne of the vastly exciting areas in modern science involves the study of the brain. Recent research focuses not only on how the brain works but how it is related to what we normally call the mind, and throws new light on human behavior. Progress has been made in researching all that relates to interior man, why he thinks and feels as he does, what values he chooses to adopt, and what practices to scorn. All of these attributes make us human and help to explain art, philosophy, and religions. Motion, sight, and memory, as well as emotions and the sentiments common to humans, are all given new meaning by what we have learned about the brain. In an introductory essay, Vernon B. Mountcastle traces the progress made in brain science during this century. Gerald M. Edelman touches upon features of the brain that challenge the picture of the brain as a machine. Semir Zeki discusses artists and artistic expression as an extension of the function of the brain. Richard S. J. Frackowiak probes the functional architecture of the brain. Mark F. Bear and Leon N Cooper explore whether complex neural systems can be illuminated by theoretical structures. Jean-Pierre Changeux sheds light on the knowledge gained in recent years concerning the neurobiology and pharmacology of drug action and addiction. Alexander A. Borbuly and Giulio Tononi ponder the quest for the essence of sleep, illuminating its complex dynamic process. George L. Gabor Miklos examines variations in neuroanatomies and sensory systems between individuals of the same species as well as variations across the evolutionary spectrum. Emilio Bizzi and Ferdinando A. Mussa-Ivaldi explain how scientists have approached the study of movement, the problems encountered, and the solutions proposed. Marcel Kinsbourne explores the unity and diversity in the human brain. In the concluding essay, Andy Clark points to recent work in neuroscience, robotics, and psychology that stresses the unexpected intimacy of brain, body, and world, supporting his belief that the mind is best understood as a brain at home in its proper bodily cultural and environmental niche. The breadth and scope of subjects covered in this volume attest to the extraordinary progress taking place in the study of the brain. This brilliant collection of essays by those at the forefront of research in this area will be of interest to all those interested in human behavior. Gerald M. Edelman is director of the Neurosciences Institute and chairman of the Department of Neurobiology at the Scripps Research Institute. Jean-Pierre Changeux is professor at the Collbge de France and the Institute Pasteur.
The Brave Educator: Honest Conversations about Navigating Race in the Classroom
by Krystle CobranThe Brave Educator equips you with accessible and refreshingly useful tools for real conversations about race that prepare students for the world beyond the school walls. More than a toolkit, this book is a personal conversation exploring the journey from being stuck in the belief that we should already know how to lead conversations about race to learning how to actually have the conversation. It’s companionship for educators, leaders, and teachers facing overwhelming daily responsibilities and searching for open-hearted support. Inside you’ll find a flexible road map to help carve a path through difficult conversations in your classroom, plus question prompts, resource lists, and crucial tips to help you avoid common pitfalls. The grounded perspective and real-world examples in these pages will help you feel less alone as you move from tentative to prepared.
The Break-Up of Britain
by Tom NairnThe classic text, with a new introduction by Anthony Barnett In this classic text, first published in 1977, Tom Nairn memorably depicts the &“slow foundering&” of the United Kingdom on the rocks of constitutional anachronism, its fall from empire and the gathering force of civic nationalism. Rich in comparisons between the nationalisms of the British Isles and those of the wider world, The Break-Up of Britain concludes by reflecting on the Janus-faced nature of national identity. Postscripts from the Thatcher and New Labour years trace the political strategies whose upshot accelerated the demise of a British order they were intended to serve. As a second Scottish independence referendum beckons, a new introduction by openDemocracy&’s Anthony Barnett underlines the book&’s enduring relevance.
The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-first Century
by Robert CooperCooper shows that the greatest question facing postmodern states is how they should deal with a world in which missiles and terrorists ignore borders and where Cold War alliances no longer guarantee security.
The Breath of Life
by John BurroughsWritten in 1915, The Breath of Life was written by John Burroughs, an American naturalist and essayist who played an important role in the US conservation movement.
The Brentano Puzzle (Western Philosophy Series)
by Roberto PoliEven if the width and the depth of Brentano’s intellectual legacy are now quite well known, those asked to list the principal philosophers of the 19th century, very rarely do mention his name. We may call this puzzle the problem of Brentano’s 'invisibility'. One component of the Brentano’s puzzle is that a number of Brentano’s outstanding pupils achieved their own success and founded their own schools. Suffice to mention Husserl’s phenomenology, Twardowski’s Lvov-Warsaw school and Meinong’s Graz school. The personal success and academic recognition attained by these exponents of Brentano’s school (in the broad sense) have come to obscure their common origins. The oblivion into which Franz Brentano’s thought fell was in part due also to the subsequent split between analytic philosophy and phenomenology. The book reconstructs elements of the 'map' of the Brentanists, revitalizing knowledge of the theoretical complexity of their debates, of their unitariness, and of their style. Last but not least, analyses of the relevance of those discussions for contemporary philosophical and scientific debate are also considered.
The Brew Deal: How Beer Helped Battle the Great Depression
by Jason E. TaylorDuring the final stages of Prohibition, the US government allowed the consumption and sale of “non-intoxicating” beer, which was at or below 3.2% alcohol-by-weight. Beer’s return—permitted with an eye toward job creation during the Great Depression—was one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s earliest New Deal policies. In this book, economic historian Jason E. Taylor takes readers through the rapid resurgence of American breweries and shows how beer helped spark a sharp recovery in the spring of 1933. Taylor begins with stories of how the nation’s 1,400 breweries were decimated by the onset of Prohibition in 1920. He then turns to the frothy debates that led Congress to declare 3.2 beer “non-intoxicating,” and hence allowable under Prohibition. While April 7th is now celebrated as “National Beer Day,” the original April 7th—when legal beer returned after more than 13 years away—brought raucous scenes that make today’s Mardi Gras festivities seem tame by comparison. The Brew Deal shares stories of breweries, people, politics, perseverance, and the various roles that 3.2 beer has played in the evolving American beer scene.
The Bridge Between Bioethics and Medical Practice: Medical Professionalism (The International Library of Bioethics #98)
by Marko Ćurković Ana BorovečkiThis book provides insights into dynamic and complex interrelationships between professionalism and medical practice. It does so by looking into the most relevant and recent theoretical and practical frameworks and by systematizing and integrating extensive and growing literature on medical professionalism. Through honest and prudent contributions from very diverse backgrounds and contexts, this book provides an understanding of medical professionalism derived from a broader historical and cultural context in order to contribute to everyday professional life and practice – the very place of its existence. The book presents the conflicting and sometimes irreconcilable demands and challenges physicians face in everyday practice. A better understanding of these fundamental issues is the only way for medicine to maintain and preserve its unique morality, the same one that enabled its existence in the first place. The book is relevant for everyone immersed and interested in the subject of medical professionalism as a resource, which may ease or guide them through the complexities of issues at hand. It will also contribute to the ongoing debate on medical professionalism, medical ethics, bioethics, and professionalism and ethics in general.
The Bright Ages: A New History of Medieval Europe
by David M. Perry Matthew Gabriele"Traveling easily through a thousand years of history, The Bright Ages reminds us society never collapsed when the Roman Empire fell, nor did the modern world did wake civilization from a thousand year hibernation. Thoroughly enjoyable, thoughtful and accessible; a fresh look on an age full of light, color, and illumination." —Mike Duncan, author of Hero of Two Worlds: The Marquis de Lafayette in the Age of Revolution A lively and magisterial popular history that refutes common misperceptions of the European Middle Ages, showing the beauty and communion that flourished alongside the dark brutality—a brilliant reflection of humanity itself.The word “medieval” conjures images of the “Dark Ages”—centuries of ignorance, superstition, stasis, savagery, and poor hygiene. But the myth of darkness obscures the truth; this was a remarkable period in human history. The Bright Ages recasts the European Middle Ages for what it was, capturing this 1,000-year era in all its complexity and fundamental humanity, bringing to light both its beauty and its horrors. The Bright Ages takes us through ten centuries and crisscrosses Europe and the Mediterranean, Asia and Africa, revisiting familiar people and events with new light cast upon them. We look with fresh eyes on the Fall of Rome, Charlemagne, the Vikings, the Crusades, and the Black Death, but also to the multi-religious experience of Iberia, the rise of Byzantium, and the genius of Hildegard and the power of queens. We begin under a blanket of golden stars constructed by an empress with Germanic, Roman, Spanish, Byzantine, and Christian bloodlines and end nearly 1,000 years later with the poet Dante—inspired by that same twinkling celestial canopy—writing an epic saga of heaven and hell that endures as a masterpiece of literature today. The Bright Ages reminds us just how permeable our manmade borders have always been and of what possible worlds the past has always made available to us. The Middle Ages may have been a world “lit only by fire” but it was one whose torches illuminated the magnificent rose windows of cathedrals, even as they stoked the pyres of accused heretics. The Bright Ages contains an 8-page color insert.
The Bright Side: How Optimists Change the World, and How You Can Be One
by Sumit Paul-ChoudhuryIn the thought-provoking tradition of Steven Pinker&’s Enlightenment Now and Yuval Noah Harari&’s Homo Deus, a fascinating and reassuring look at the philosophy, psychology, and practice of optimism, and why being optimistic is a moral obligation—even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.Scrolling through our daily newsfeeds we see violence and cruelty, turmoil and injustice, fake news and clickbait, and worsening environmental and social crises—just a few of the dark currents feeding a tidal wave of pessimism. In the face of so many challenges, how can we stay optimistic? And, more important, why should we? In The Bright Side, Sumit Paul-Choudhury answers these pressing questions, arguing that optimism is not only essential for overcoming the challenges we face, but also fundamental to human wellbeing. Drawing on a wide array of evidence—from biology to history, and from economics to meteorology—he delves into the underappreciated roots of optimism, examines its impact on mental health and professional success, and discusses why it has a power that wishful thinking lacks. Additionally, The Bright Side shows how we can apply the principles of optimism to cope with environmental crises, artificial intelligence, and social change. From the polar reaches to the world&’s mightiest cities, through inspirational figures including explorers, activists, and scientists, the book illustrates optimism in action. A beacon amid dark times, The Bright Side provides a lens through which we can see the challenges we face more clearly—and it also offers tools for solving them, to create a better future for ourselves and generations to come.
The Brightness of Stars: Stories Of Adults Who Came Through The Care System
by Lisa CherryIn this poignant book, Lisa Cherry brings together a collection of candid and personal reflections on the care system in the UK, offering alternative ways of thinking about the care experience, supporting better ways of working, and providing justification for a trauma-informed lens to be applied to all forms of work with those in care. Through personal insights and reflections, the book brings often-unheard stories vividly to life, beginning with the author’s own. These are stories about love and pain; hurt and isolation; the depth of lived experience that makes up a life; how we live our lives through our relationships with others and where we feel we fit in. In this thoughtfully compiled third edition, original contributors look back on their own reflections from the lives that they live now, new stories bring new perspectives, and discussion points provide the opportunity to consider the realities of the care experience as well as life beyond. Whilst each story is unique, shared themes reveal the truth of the care system and, coming at a time where there is a real opportunity for change, the narratives in this book are ultimately stories of hope and connection. This is crucial reading for policy makers, those working in social work, education and adoption, as well as care experienced adults.
The Brightness of Stars: Stories from Care Experienced Adults to Inspire Change
by Lisa CherryIn this poignant book, Lisa Cherry brings together a collection of candid and personal reflections on the care system in the UK, offering alternative ways of thinking about the care experience, supporting better ways of working, and providing justification for a trauma-informed lens to be applied to all forms of work with those in care.Through personal insights and reflections, the book brings often-unheard stories vividly to life, beginning with the author’s own. These are stories about love and pain; hurt and isolation; the depth of lived experience that makes up a life; how we live our lives through our relationships with others and where we feel we fit in. In this thoughtfully compiled third edition, original contributors look back on their own reflections from the lives that they live now, new stories bring new perspectives, and discussion points provide the opportunity to consider the realities of the care experience as well as life beyond.Whilst each story is unique, shared themes reveal the truth of the care system and, coming at a time where there is a real opportunity for change, the narratives in this book are ultimately stories of hope and connection. This is crucial reading for policy makers, those working in social work, education and adoption, as well as care experienced adults.
The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences)
by Tsong KhapaThe most important commentary on Vajrayana from the founder of the Dalai Lama's school of Buddhism.The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp of the Five Stages (rim lnga rab tu gsal ba’i sgron me) is Tsong Khapa’s most important commentary on the perfection stage practices of the Esoteric Community (Guhyasamaja), the tantra he considered fundamental for the practice of the “father tantra” class of unexcelled yoga tantras. It draws heavily on Nagarjuna’s Five Stages (Pañcakrama) and Aryadeva’s Lamp that Integrates the Practices (Caryamelapakapradipa), as well as a vast range of perfection stage works included in the Tibetan canonical (Kangyur and Tengyur) collections. It is an important work for both scholars and practitioners. A reader of this work will find in it convincing evidence for Tsong Khapa’s own yogic experience and attainment, in coordination with his better-known philosophical and scholarly achievements. The present revised edition of the work is a cornerstone of the Complete Works of Jey Tsong Khapa and Sons collection, a subset of the Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences series. Comprised of the collected works of Tsong Khapa (1357–1419) and his spiritual sons, Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (1364–1432) and Khedrup Gelek Pelsang (1385–1438), the numerous works in this set of Tibetan treatises and supercommentaries are based on the thousands of works in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.
The British Aesthetic Tradition: From Shaftesbury to Wittgenstein
by Timothy M. CostelloeThe British Aesthetic Tradition: From Shaftesbury to Wittgenstein is the first single volume to offer readers a comprehensive and systematic history of aesthetics in Britain and the United States from its inception in the early eighteenth century to major developments in the late twentieth century. The book consists of an introduction and eight chapters, and is divided into three parts. The first part, The Age of Taste, covers the eighteenth-century approaches of internal sense theorists, imagination theorists, and associationists. The second, The Age of Romanticism, takes readers from debates over the picturesque through British Romanticism to late Victorian criticism. The third, The Age of Analysis, covers early twentieth-century theories of Formalism and Expressionism to conclude with Wittgenstein and a number of views inspired by his thought.
The British Approach to Politics (Routledge Library Editions: Government)
by Michael StewartOriginally published in 1958 and written by a serving M.P. this book discusses the nature and purpose of political activity in the Government of Britain, the Commonwealth and the former British Empire. As politics is closely connected with history and economics, the book makes reference to these subject areas, but in a way that is only necessary to give a lucid introduction to the political problems of the 20th Century. The book was written in such a way as to be particularly useful for the introductory study of government and politics.
The British Coalition Government, 2010-2015
by Peter Dorey Mark GarnettThis book examines theformation and operation of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalitiongovernment from May 2010 to May 2015. The authors outline the factors thatenabled the union, including economic circumstances, parliamentary politics,the initially amicable relationship established between David Cameron and NickClegg, and the apparent ideological closeness of Conservative modernisers andOrange Book Liberal Democrats. The authors then analyse how these factorsshaped the policy agenda pursued over the five years, including the issues ofdeficit reduction, public sector reform, and welfare reduction, beforediscussing the tensions that developed as a result of these decisions. Ultimately, relations between the coalition partners steadily became lessamicable and more acrimonious, as mutual respect gave way to mutualrecrimination.
The British Constitution Resettled: Parliamentary Sovereignty Before and After Brexit
by Jim McConalogueAdopting a political constitutionalist view of the British constitution, this book critically explores the history of legal and political thought on parliamentary sovereignty in the UK. It argues that EU membership strongly unsettled the historical precedents underpinning UK parliamentary sovereignty. Successive governments adopted practices which, although preserving fundamental legal rules, were at odds with past precedents. The author uses three key EU case studies – the financial transactions tax, freedom of movement of persons, and the working time directive – to illustrate that since 1973 the UK incorporated EU institutions which unsettled those precedents. The book further shows that the parliament’s place since the referendum on Brexit in June 2016 and the scrutinising of the terms of the withdrawal agreement constitute an enhanced, new constitutional resettlement, and a realignment of parliament with the historical precedent of consent and its sovereignty.
The British Empiricists
by Stephen PriestThe Empiricists represent the central tradition in British philosophy as well as some of the most important and influential thinkers in human history. Their ideas paved the way for modern thought from politics to science, ethics to religion. The British Empiricists is a wonderfully clear and concise introduction to the lives, careers and views of Hobbes, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Mill, Russell, and Ayer. Stephen Priest examines each philosopher and their views on a wide range of topics including mind and matter, ethics and emotions, freedom and the physical world, language, truth and logic. The book is usefully arranged so that it can be read by thinker or by topic, or as a history of key philosophical problems and equips the reader to: recognize and practice philosophical thinking understand the methods of solving philosophical problems used by the British Empiricists appreciate the role of empiricism in the history of Western philosophy. For any student new to philosophy, Western philosophy or the British Empiricists, this masterly survey offers an accessible engaging introduction.