It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest. Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume...

On the heels of the success of "The Wisdom of Crowds" and "Predictably Irrational" comes a thoughtful and persuasive celebration of human fallibility that examines what it means to be right or wrong--and why it matters so much to us.

An exploration of the ways in which computers are reshaping our ideas of what it means to be human, the starting point for which is the annual Turing Test, which pits artificial intelligence programs against people to determine if computers can "think."

"An exploration of the failures of reason in human life and the enduring role of myth in science, politics, and morality"--

"In being me, a philosopher reflects in everyday language on what it is like to be a person, arriving at unexpected conclusions about the self and its future, time and mortality, free will and personal efficacy, regret and love. These topics are explored in brief sections titled "Wanting to go on", "Running out of time", "Regretting what might have been", "Aspiring to Authorship", "Making things happen", and "Wanting to be loved". Written in the first...

Overturns widely held misconceptions about race, war and peace, and human nature itself and asserts that creativity is what has made humans so exceptional among all the species on Earth. --Publisher.

"An essential addition to the Stone Reader series, Question Everything is a groundbreaking collection of philosophical essays from some of our foremost thinkers and storytellers. When The Stone Reader--a landmark collection of 133 essays from the New York Times' award-winning philosophy column--first published, in 2015, the world urgently needed insight and wisdom, and for many, the book served as a bulwark of reason against the rising tide of post-fact...

"In this book, William Ian Miller offers his reflections on the perverse consequences, indeed, often the opposite of intended effects, of so-called good things. Noted for his remarkable erudition, wit, and playful pessimism, Miller here ranges over topics from personal disasters to literary and national ones. Drawing on a truly immense store of knowledge encompassing literature, philosophy, theology, and history, he excavates the evidence of human...