The Challenge of Things: Thinking Through Troubled Times - Tapa blanda

Provocative . . . Each essay is a jewel, giving new relevance to a familiar issue; taken together, they are a spirited defense of the importance of philosophy and the humanities in general while calling us to rethink some of our most fundamental assumptions. * ShelfAwareness * Debunks the teleological, ontological and cosmological arguments employed throughout Christendom for the literal existence of God . . . Those looking for a succinct analysis of these centuries old debates will appreciate Grayling's insights. * Washington Post "On Faith" on THE GOD ARGUMENT * Mr. Grayling is precise and incisive. He rattles through the standard arguments against the existence of God and does a capable job of demolishing those put forward in the hope of proving a deity's existence . . . The second half of the book, in which Mr. Grayling sets out his take on the ethical system known as humanism, is more likely to win converts . . . Mr. Grayling is a talented apologist. His brand of humanism comes across as sensible, reasonable, and characterized by a generosity of spirit that is often absent from religious structures. * The Economist on THE GOD ARGUMENT * A marvel, a 'distillation' of over a thousand authoritative texts, edited, redacted, and assembled in the manner of the (Holy) Bible, though by one man rather than many; written in a crisp, beautiful English; printed and bound like the precious object it clearly wishes to become. This is high praise, which Grayling, a philosopher at the University of London and the author of histories, biographies, and books demonstrating the everyday applicability of Humanist philosophy, amply deserves. * The New Yorker on THE GOOD BOOK * Maybe agnostics and atheists will embrace [The Good Book]; maybe Christians will embrace it too as a valuable collection of insights. It might begin as a curiosity and then flourish or remain a cult favorite or just a curiosity. I suppose some might be offended by The Good Book but they needn't be. You don't have to be a nonbeliever to find solace and wisdom in the distilled ideas presented here. * The Huffington Post on THE GOOD BOOK *

A. C. Grayling's lucid and stimulating books, based on the idea that philosophy should engage with the world and make itself useful, are immensely popular. The Challenge of Things joins earlier collections like The Reason of Things and Thinking of Answers, but this time to collect Grayling's recent writings on the world in a time of war and conflict. In describing and exposing the dark side of things, he also explores ways out of the habits and prejudices of mind that would otherwise trap us forever in the deadly impasses of conflicts of all kinds. Whether he is writing about the First World War and its legacy, free speech, the advantages of an atheist prime minister or the role of science in the arts, his essays are always enlightening, enlivening and hopeful.