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PHILOSOPHY Wickedness A Philosophical Essay Mary Midgley With a new introduction by the author ‘I have now read the book twice, not because it is difficult (on the contrary it reads with the ease and elegance of Bertrand Russell), but because it is so stimulating.’ – Brian Masters, The Spectator To look into the darkness of the human soul is a frightening venture. Here, Mary Midgley does so, with her customary brilliance and clarity. Midgley’s analysis proves that the capacity for real wickedness is an inevitable part of human nature. This is not however a blanket acceptance of evil. Out of this dark journey she returns with an offering to us: an understanding of human nature that enhances our very humanity. First published: 1986. 248pp: 978-0-415-25398-7: £8.99
The Sovereignty of Good Iris Murdoch ‘One of the very few modern books of philosophy which people outside academic philosophy find really helpful.’ – Mary Midgley Iris Murdoch once observed: ‘philosophy is often a matter of finding occasions on which to say the obvious’. What was obvious to Murdoch, and to all those who read her work, is that Good transcends everything – even God. Throughout her distinguished and prolific writing career, she explored questions of good and bad, myth and morality. The framework for Murdoch’s questions – and her own conclusions – can be found here. First published: 1970. 128pp: 978-0-415-25399-4: £9.99
Gödel’s Proof Ernest Nagel and James R. Newman ‘Nagel and Newman accomplish the wondrous task of clarifying the argumentative outline of Kurt Godel’s celebrated logic bomb.’ – The Guardian In 1931 the mathematical logician Kurt Godel published a revolutionary paper that challenged certain basic assumptions underpinning mathematics and logic. A colleague of Albert Einstein, his theorem proved that mathematics was partly based on propositions not provable within the mathematical system and had radical implications that have echoed throughout many fields. A gripping combination of science and accessibility, Gödel’s Proof by Nagel and Newman is for both mathematicians and the idly curious, offering those with a taste for logic and philosophy the chance to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. First published: 1958. 192pp: 978-0-415-35528-5: £14.99
Conjectures and Refutations The Growth of Scientific Knowledge Karl Popper ‘Popper holds that truth is not manifest, but extremely elusive, he believes that men need above all things, open-mindedness, imagination, and a constant willingness to be corrected.’ – Maurice Cranston, Listener Conjectures and Refutations is one of Karl Popper’s most wide-ranging and popular works, notable not only for its acute insight into the way scientific knowledge grows, but also for applying those insights to politics and to history. It provides one of the clearest and most accessible statements of the fundamental idea that guided his work: not only our knowledge, but our aims and our standards, grow through an unending process of trial and error. 608pp: 978-0-415-28594-0: £10.99