Beginner's Guides Series

Should we aim to maximize happiness? Are there characteristics that we should foster within ourselves? Why is it important to act morally? From the ancient Greeks to Sartre, from utilitarianism to the categorical imperative, Ethics: A Beginner's Guide presents this vital topic of philosophy via its most influential thinkers and theories.

With characteristic wit, philosopher Peter Cave steers us around well known and not-so-well known ethical traps - in the private sphere, in community life, and in relation to God and religion.

As well as a guide to ongoing theoretical debates, Cave shows how the discipline helps us to confront topical controversies including those of the environment, abortion, and animal welfare. For anyone who questions how we ought to live, there is no better introduction to ethics and how it relates to twenty-first-century society.

Humanism

by Peter Cave

Published 12 January 2009

Why should we believe in God without any evidence? How can there be meaning in life when death is final? With historical adherents including such thinkers as Einstein, Freud, Philip Pullman, and Frank Zappa, Humanism’s central quest is to make sense of such questions, explaining the ethical and metaphysical by appealing to shared human values, rationality, and tolerance. Essential reading for atheists, agnostics, ignostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and believers too, this Beginner’s Guide will explain all aspects of the Humanist philosophy whilst providing an alternative and valuable conception of life without religion.

Philosophy

by Peter Cave

Published 6 September 2012

Philosophy, the “love of wisdom”, is the product of our endless fascination and curiosity about the world – the child of wonder. Through it, we seek to answer the most fundamental of questions: How do we know what we know? Does God exist? What is beauty? How should we live our lives? What am I?

In this exhilarating tour, Peter Cave navigates all the main topics of philosophy with verve and clarity. Using witty and whimsical examples, including stoical sofas and Reg, the “regular” human, who just happens to carry his brain in a rucksack, Cave provides a welcome antidote to the dry textbook while covering everything from political philosophy to points of logic. Interspersed with helpful textboxes and underlining the enduring relevance of philosophy to us all, there is no better introduction for the aspiring sage.